UCSD to Cap Out-of-State and International Enrollment

UCSD will cap its acceptances of out-of-state and international undergraduate students based on the percentage it enrolls nonresidents next school year.

This admissions policy was handed down earlier today by the UC Board of Regents, which voted to limit nonresident enrollment to 18 percent at the Davis, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz campuses. For four other campuses that currently accept more than 18 percent, Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, and San Diego, they will limit their enrollment of nonresidents reflected in their 2017-18 populations.

At UCSD, nonresidents composed 22 percent of the undergraduate population in 2015-16 and 25 percent in 2016-17, totaling around 7000 students. The admissions cap will be tied to enrollment data from 2017-18, which will be finalized in June, the UCSD Undergraduate Admissions Office told The Triton.

Last March, a state audit found that the UC disadvantaged in-state students by accepting more and more nonresidents. Nonresident enrollment increased by 82 percent from 2010 to 2015, while in-state student enrollment decreased by 1 percent. The audit also found that since 2011, 16,000 nonresidents, whose standardized test scores and grade point averages fell in the bottom half of admitted residents, were accepted. Meanwhile, the office found that 11,000 qualified residents were denied admission in 2014-2015 alone.

While addressing some of the concerns raised in the audit, the new UC-wide policy is a direct response to the Budget Act of 2016. A provision in the act withheld $18.5 million from the UC until the Regents created a nonresident enrollment policy. The original proposal suggested a 20% systemwide cap to the Regents in March, but was readjusted for an 18 percent cap on schools who currently admit less than this percentage and a freeze on caps for schools that exceed it.

A similar provision to withhold $50 million from the UC until the Regents implement more transparent financial practices was requested last Thursday by Governor Jerry Brown after a recent audit showed that the UC President’s office withheld $175 million in reserve funds.

Shine Cho is the Managing Editor for The Triton.