UC system institutes admissions wait lists

Students who apply to the University of California for this fall may contend with an admissions response they hadn’t expected — wait lists. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the system announced the policy change Wednesday.

For years, competitive private universities have wait-listed some applicants. But that hasn’t been standard practice at the 10 University of California campuses until now.

Blame it on the state’s budget crunch. That’s the reason the public university system cut freshman enrollment by 2,300 students for the term that began in September. Officials say they’d planned similar reductions for the coming academic year.

Instead, each campus will create a waiting list and adjust enrollment targets as the state sets its spending priorities. UC administrators hope California will restore some of the money it cut from the system in recent years — or will at least honor Governor Schwarzenegger’s pledge to spend more on higher education than on incarceration.

The proposed state budget allocates $3 billion to the university — but the system still faces a shortfall of more than $200 million if lawmakers approve that budget.