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UC Regents Vote To Expand Enrollment For California Students

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — University of California campuses will expand enrollment for students from California over the next three years under a plan approved Thursday by UC's governing board.

UC President Janet Napolitano's plan will increase enrollment of state resident undergraduates by 10,000 over that time span, including 5,000 freshmen and transfer students next year.

The enrollment program was given preliminary approval by UC's Committees on Finance and Long Range Planning as part of the discussion about their proposed operating budget for 2016-17.

"The University of California is committed to ensuring educational opportunity for current and future generations of students," Napolitano said. "That imperative is the driving force behind the proposal to increase access for Californians, to sustain that expanded access and to maintain the excellence of what is commonly considered to be the best research university in the world."

All nine UC campuses that educate undergraduates will see a rise in enrollment of California residents, an increase made possible by a state budget allocation of $25 million, with an additional $25 million provided by the university, UC regents said.

The board said it intends to sustain the expanded access in the following two years, enrolling 2,500 additional California resident undergraduates in 2017-2018 and again in 2018-19, for a total increase of 10,000 students.

The university also is requesting an additional $6 million in state funding to enroll 600 more graduate students in 2016-17, and will seek to continue to increase graduate student enrollment at a proportionate rate for the following two years.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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