UC system impacted by budget

As the year slowly dwindles down, one imminent issue hangs in the mind of every college bound senior: applications. Described as possibly one the most stressful of high school experiences, the application puts more at stake than simply a grade; it can alter ones entire future.

Thankfully, Aragon sits at the heart of California, home of the University of California system. The UC system is known worldwide for offering top notch education at public-school costs. It boasts schools like UC Berkeley and UC Los Angeles which have consistently ranked among the top ten in the nation while maintaining tuition about two-thirds the cost of most private colleges. The estimated full year tuition including board at UC Berkeley for California residents during the 2009-2010 year totaled approximately $29,000, in contrast to estimates of $48,000 from the nearby private Stanford University.

However, just like most educational institutions, the UC system has also been impacted by tightening budgets. During the 2010-2011 school year at UC Berkeley, the price of the educational tuition fee excluding board for California residents is estimated to be $6,230 per semester. This is almost double the estimated fee from the 2004-2005 school year which was reported to be about $3,365 per semester. As a result, many senior students attending colleges now have witnessed their tuition bills grow year after year.

Senior Rashmi Jain notes, “It will effect how many years people are in college. Some people will take five years instead of four.”

This budget impact is also effecting the decisions of some of our seniors. Senior Andrea Chau says, “Many of my friends are applying to privates hoping that scholarships and grants to privates will make it cheaper than UCs.”

However, the budget is not the only great recent concern of the UC system. In the recent decade, UCs have seen a surge in applicants as well. In 2000, UCLA received 37,794 total applications. A mere decade later, UCLA witnessed a 52 percent increase with a staggering 57,660 applications, compared with 48,616 applications for UC Berkeley.

The increase in the number of applications coupled with the budget crisis has prompted most UCs to start enforcing tighter admission standards. UC Irvine has seen admission rates drop from 61.0 percent in 2005 down to 45.2 percent last fall.

Now students are feeling the strain of the heightened competition.

College Advisor Laurie Tezak observes, “Many students feel more pressured. They are nervous about whether or not they are taking the right classes. They feel as if they have to get everything right because there is more competition.” Although Aragon has not seen declines in admittance, Senior Class Adviser Trisha Liskay warns, “UC’s this year will be much more adamant. That means absolutely no D grades.”

Many students have also become more conservative with their college selections. Tezak says, “students are not looking at CSU’s as their backup, but community colleges as a back up.”

Indeed, Behrooz Sharvini, a teacher in the Aragon math department who also teaches at the local College of San Mateo, reports that his class sizes at CSM have seen an increase. No need to fear community colleges though. Sharvini assures that at community colleges, “the education is excellent, and it really is a bargain. It is really easy to get personalized attention as opposed to if you were to go to a UC like Berkeley with huge class sizes.”

Regardless of the economic situation, it seems as if the increased selectivity of UC’s is here to stay.

“Schools like the competition,” Tezak says. “It is likely that these selective admissions are going to stay like this for a while.”