AUDIT FINDS UC WRONGLY ADMITTED ‘CONNECTED’ STUDENTS

The University of California “inappropriately admitted” at least 64 wealthy, mostly White students over the past six years as “favors to donors, family, and friends,“according to an audit released Tuesday that found hundreds more questionable cases of students accepted to the top UC schools.

Among them were a student whose family was friends with a member of the Board of Regents, the child of a major donor and an applicant who babysat for a colleague of a former admissions director, according to the report from the California State Auditor.

“This is a significant problem that the university needs to deal with,” State Auditor Elaine Howle said in a telephone interview. “Let’s hope this isn’t occurring across the country, or at other universities in California. But it is very concerning.”

The audit examined admissions policies and practices over the academic years from 2013-2014 to 20182019 at four of the UC’S nine campuses — UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara.

Howle said she believes the findings have barely scratched the surface of problems in the UC admissions process. The majority of the 64 applicants were White and at least half had annual family incomes of $150,000 or more, the audit said.

Those 64 students were identified in the audit based on “definitive evidence,” such as emailed communications showing a student was denied admission but then reconsidered and accepted after an athletic coach or the development office got involved to suggest the student’s entry could lead to donations, Howle said.

“There’s at least another 400 or so students that were really questionable,” Howle said.