WITH the University of California (UC) application deadline on Nov. 30, UC President Janet Napolitano met with ethnic media reporters to uncover perceptions held and barriers faced by minority communities in applying to the university.
“Our goal is to make sure that California students know that this is their university and that they have a home at the University of California,” she told reporters during a roundtable on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Last school year, Asian Americans, Latinos and African Americans constituted 36 percent, 22 percent and 4 percent, respectively, of the UC’s undergraduate population.
As with many communities, among barriers of attending a UC for a number of ethnic groups is cost. For the 2015-16 school year, the estimated average cost is $29,500 for those living off campus and $33,600 for those living on campus, according to the UC Admissions website.
Napolitano addressed the concern by citing that more than half of California resident students at UCs pay no tuition because of programs that cover that cost for families that make $80,000 or less. Furthermore, 41 percent of UC students received financial aid through Pell Grants, which offers awards of up to $5,775 – depending on a family’s income – that do not need to be repaid.
Additionally, according to 2014-15 data from UC, 42 percent of its students are low-income – compared to 23 percent low-income students at other selective public universities – and 78 percent of those students attain their degrees within six years.
Seventy percent of UC low-income students go on to work in California, and within five years, their median individual income surpasses that of their families at the time they began their time in the UC system.
“Our students have a very high graduation number…. Many of them go on to graduate or professional school. Others go into other careers but … we think of [the UC] as an engine of social mobility in a way that no other university system in the country can match,” Napolitano said, citing a New York Times study where six UC campuses made the top seven list of colleges and universities in the US that actually provide real opportunities for students. She also referenced a US News & World Report ranking of public universities, where six of the top 11 campuses nationally were California campuses.
Another concern raised by ethnic media was the perception that attending a UC versus junior colleges and California State Universities could leave a student isolated on campus and from their parents, as well as questions of security and safety.
While support groups for various challenges students may face during their college career exist at UCs, Napolitano said the system could potentially look into sending additional information to parents to assure that there are resources available for their children.
Another suggestion made was to improve the partnership between the UC and local school districts.
Napolitano’s meeting took place amid efforts by the university system to expand enrollment for the state’s new generation of students. Data from 2014 shows that 41 percent of the 2013 freshman class were first-generation college students, and 30 percent of that class came from homes where English is not the primary language.
Next week, the Board of Regents will vote on a plan proposing to boost the number of UC undergraduates throughout the nine campuses that offer undergraduate degrees by 5,000 next year and 10,000 throughout the next three years. The UC also plans to increase the number of graduate students by 600 next year, after which it would continue increasing that number proportional to overall enrollment in subsequent years.
“We want our people from California to come and they will get a great education, and have real opportunities presented to them should they come,” Napolitano said.
Funding for the additional students will come from the legislature and some one-time funds. The UC will also phase out in-state aid for out-of-state students and will use those funds for additional resident students.
