
– Advertisement –
It’s been a rocky year for the University of California Berkeley, seeking to expand enrollment amid the pandemic and lawsuits.
– Advertisement –
With 14,600 new students admitted this fall, university enrollment has dropped significantly from about 16,400 students in 2021. The percentage of students admitted to the school is still undetermined, but is estimated to be high. This first-year class is comparable to previous classes in terms of academic excellence and diversity, which are among UC Berkeley’s top priorities.
– Advertisement –
University and public response
Berkeley News’ Janet Gilmore reports that the drop in admissions is aimed at balancing the surplus in admissions in the fall of 2021. More freshmen and transfers accepted admission offers in 2021 than the university anticipated, with larger numbers of students returning to study together. A pandemic gap year.
– Advertisement –
Reducing admissions this year by 14% would balance the overall student body for which the Berkeley facilities are intended. Josephine Sulao of Cardinal Education, a Bay Area admissions consulting company, says that low admissions means applicants have more responsibility than ever to prove themselves.
“From the perspective of UC Berkeley’s administration, their decision to enroll 2,000 fewer students this year is justified because they need to balance their capacity in terms of teaching staff and logistics,” Sulayao says. “This means that the admissions process will be more competitive and applicants will have to be more creative to find ways to differentiate themselves and from the rest to truly be considered for admissions.”
court case
Admissions were nearly reduced by an estimated 3,050 students when California’s Supreme Court earlier this year mandated enrollment to drop to early pandemic levels. This resulted in a lawsuit against the university by a group called Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods. He believes plans to expand UC Berkeley enrollment before adequate facilities are built would be disastrous for students and the community.
The law would cost the university an estimated $57 million in tuition, making the acceptance process nearly impossible for thousands. After Cal appealed the decision, Governor Gavin Newsom enacted legislation allowing UC Berkeley to continue with its original plan for admissions and enrollment. UC Berkeley’s public statement said the situation did not affect his decreased admissions this year.
College preparation company, Beverly Gierreald of Transition, believes that UC Berkeley’s rejection of the expansion affected its 2022 admissions. She sees this as a big move by the state and the state sees fit to benefit the students.
“When UC Berkeley released plans to expand enrollment, many deep-pocketed alumni living nearby opposed the expansion, and the Supreme Court of California ruled against UC Berkeley,” says Gierreld. “This trend is becoming common across state schools: Once they have achieved a certain amount of accreditation, the state works hard to keep that resource with itself. Given that the state taxes the state. schools, it is understandable that parents would want their sons and daughters to be given priority when applying.”
the data looks promising
Despite adjusting to the shock of the pandemic this year and dodging enrollment caps imposed by unhappy residents, UC Berkeley is still on its way to expansion. Two thousand students sounds like a lot to lose, but if you analyze enrollment and tuition fees over the past decade, it turns out to be a small hiccup in the bigger picture. Enrollment data from the University of California site and the UC Berkeley registrar’s tuition history shows that the school is not only alive but thriving.
New graduate admissions stood at 11,452 in 2011, rising steadily with a slight setback. He took a small drop from 11,108 admissions in 2012, only to shoot up to 13,975 by 2016. From that perspective, 14,600 new graduates this fall doesn’t sound like much.
The pandemic may have gradually halted the slump, but it is still climbing on average. Tuition data for the same period correlates positively with admissions data. New undergraduate non-resident tuition has increased by about 30% from 2011-2021 from $18,000 to $24,000 per term.
Ascend, too, admits UC’s diversity students. From 2011-2021, African American freshmen admitted more than doubled from 354 to 850 students. Hispanic/Latino admissions increased from 1,399 to 3,595, and Asian admissions increased from 4,500 to 6,113.
So, in short, UC Berkeley hasn’t been without issues in the aftermath of the pandemic, but things aren’t nearly as dire as some media report. It’s reasonable to assume that the California education giant will continue to grow for years to come.
More articles from Wealth of Geeks Network:
This post was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
Source link
– Advertisement –