Unless the California Supreme Court or state legislature throws UC Berkeley a lifeline, the university will have to turn away 3,050 students the campus would otherwise enroll this fall.
That’s the result of Alameda Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman’s decision last year to cap enrollment at 2020-21 levels, after Berkeley citizens had sued the university, challenging the toll that its enrollment growth would take on city services, scarce local housing and noise. A Court of Appeals rejected UC Berkeley’s request Feb. 10 to undo that enrollment cap.
But another remedy appeals to legislators who have pushed the more exclusive UC campuses to better serve California taxpayers. Rather than have UC Berkeley make cuts that, under existing admission ratios, would deny some 2,400 residents admission, state lawmakers could opt to prioritize in-state applicants and turn away out-of-state newcomers entirely.The upshot: Only about 1,000 Californians would lose a spot in Berkeley's incoming fall 2022 class.
The systemwide average is around 17%. Before the Great Recession, just 5% of UC students were out-of-state. After lawmakers slashed state support for the UC, the system recovered revenue with steep tuition hikes and a greater reliance on non-resident students, who pay three times as much tuition as in-state students do. State support for the UCs has been slowly bouncing back. In return, legislative leaders have pressured the UC to make room for more Californians.
Meanwhile, there are early signs the state Supreme Court may take on UC Berkeley’s appeal. The high court on Tuesday asked the litigants in the case for legal material, said Mogulof, the UC Berkeley spokesperson. in August 2021 that this “is how UC is behaving in lots of different places — forcing its impact on communities and not doing anything about it.”