Source: Los Angeles Times
The California Supreme Court on Thursday declined to lift an enrollment cap on UC Berkeley, forcing one of the nation’s most popular campuses to scramble for ways to avoid what it initially feared could be cuts as large as one-third of its incoming fall class, or 3,050 seats, just weeks before it was set to release admission decisions.
A university spokesman said the campus would meet the court-ordered cap by offering at least 1,500 incoming first-year and transfer students online enrollment for fall or deferred admission next January for the spring semester. In addition, some students plan to be away from campus on study programs abroad or in other cities, which would help Berkeley meet the enrollment cap. And many students graduate each winter, freeing up seats for spring.
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Assembly Member Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) said he was disappointed by the high court decision and “angry on behalf of the thousands of students who had their hearts set on attending the country’s most prestigious public university and now may not be admitted through no fault of their own.”
In an interview, the Berkeley alumnus said he was working with UC leaders to explore legislative options, which he declined to detail, that could be passed “in a very short amount of time.”
“We have been looking at different alternatives to assist Berkeley and the university, as well as to assure that all the students who were going to be admitted still can get those admission letters,” Ting said.