UC regents expected to put limit on percentage of non-Californians

The University of California regents are expected to limit enrollment of out-of-state students for the first time, amid pressure from state lawmakers dismayed that the university doubled the number of high-paying nonresidents in the past five years.

Six UC campuses would cap enrollment of nonresident undergraduates at 20 percent, guaranteeing that at least 80 percent of campus undergrads would be from California. The remaining three campuses — UC Berkeley, UC San Diego and UCLA — already exceed the proposed cap, at 24.4, 22.9, and 22.8 percent, respectively, and would be allowed to maintain those levels.

The state budget gives the regents until May 1 to adopt a policy limiting out-of-state students, a move UC has been reluctant to make because nonresidents pay roughly triple the tuition and fees of California residents and infuse the system with cash. The money brought in by nonresi-

dents — $550 million this year — is used to subsidize the tuition of low-income Californians and hire additional faculty, among other benefits, UC officials argue. California undergraduates pay $13,400 in annual tuition and fees; nonresidents pay $38,108. (Both will rise in the fall by about 3 and 4 percent, respectively.)

But state lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown have watched in alarm as the number of nonresident undergraduates more than doubled since 2012 (from 16,929 to 34,673) and the percentage rose from 9 to 16.5 percent. To halt the trend, lawmakers built into the budget an $18.5 million incentive for the autonomous university.

In exchange for limiting nonresidents, the state budget provides the nearly $19 million to pay for enrolling an additional 2,500 California residents in fall 2017.

The regents have just one meeting scheduled before the May 1 deadline, and will take up the proposal from UC President Janet Napolitano on March 16.

“The university continues to enroll every California resident undergraduate for whom it receives enrollment funding from the state,” the somewhat defensively worded proposal states.

UC does agree to admit all California high school students who qualify — but not at the campus of their choice.

Last year, Craig Webb’s daughter, Kendle, was guaranteed admission only to UC Riverside, a campus the Anaheim family didn’t think ranked highly enough. Last March, Webb saw an article about a state audit revealing that UC has been admitting thousands of students from out of state with lower grades and test scores than state residents as a way to raise cash. He wrote to UC officials calling the policy discriminatory to Californians.

Kendle eventually was admitted to UC Davis on appeal. Now, Webb calls the new proposal a bit of “smoke and mirrors” because the system’s three top schools will still be able to admit more than 20 percent of students from out of state — and he’s seen no evidence that UC has changed its lower standards for nonresidents.

“What they’re trying to do is protect those key schools and make more money,” Webb said.

UC officials say that if they didn’t grandfather in the higher levels at UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego, those schools would not only have to reduce enrollment by a total of 3,349 students, but they also would together lose $56 million.

“This policy balances UC’s commitment to putting California residents first, with the benefits that nonresident students bring,” said Ricardo Vazquez, a UC spokesman.

Most UC campuses don’t approach the cap on nonresidents. UC Merced, for example, which is the one campus that accepts every UC-qualified Californian who is turned away from other UC campuses, enrolls only 0.4 percent nonresident undergraduates.

UC Riverside enrolls about 3 percent, while UC Irvine enrolls about 19 percent. The other campuses range from about 8 to 15 percent nonresident undergraduates.

James Chalfant, who represents UC faculty as chairman of the university’s Academic Senate, opposes the plan and says it goes too far.

“There’s nothing magic about 20 percent. The people who want this policy — certainly the state — believe that nonresidents are harming residents by crowding them out,” Chalfant said. “But our belief is that the effect of nonresidents is to make everyone better off.”

Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-San Ramon, holds the opposite view and is co-author of a bill to require that nonresident applicants to UC exceed the academic requirements of state residents.

“I believe the caps (at UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego) do not go far enough,” she said. “But I appreciate that the regents are finally beginning to consider the need to cap nonresidents.”