New Audit: UC Hurting In-State Students By Enrolling Too Many Nonresidents

IRVINE (CBSLA.com) — The University of California is hurting in-state students, especially minorities, by enrolling too many out-of-state students, according to a scathing state audit released Tuesday.

The audit found over the past 10 years, the number of nonresident students enrolled in the UC system has jumped 432 percent.

Out-of-state students pay an average of $23,000 more than in-state students. Auditor Elaine Howle said those admissions come at the expense of California students who are supposed to benefit from a public university system.

In fiscal year 2014-15, out-of-state undergraduates paid about $37,000 in tuition and fees compared to $12,240 for students who met state residency requirements.

"As a public institution, the university should serve primarily those who provide for its financial and civic support — California residents," Howle wrote. "However, over the past several years, the university has failed to put the needs of residents first."

El Cajon Valley High School senior Alex Youngman said he has a 4.4 grade-point average, and still, he was rejected from a number of UC schools. "UCLA said no. UCSD pretty much said no. It's been tough," he said.

His twin brother, Sam, has a 4.6 GPA. Both said they have been rejected by several UC schools in the past few weeks.

"I see a lot of my friends who are similar situations - good test scores, good grades, who get rejected from all these schools. And it's kind of just annoying," said high school senior Sam Jungman.

UC President Janet Napolitano called the audit deficient and unfair. She argued nonresident admissions have helped keep the campuses running at a time when state funding is low.

The audit undermines the work of faculty and staff who have kept standards high "during a period when state funding was cut by about one-third," Napolitano wrote.

The UC enrolls about 250,000 students across its 10 campuses. It is required to offer an undergraduate spot to the top one-eighth of California's high school graduates. But those students do not always get admitted to the campus of their choice.

The state audit found there was an 82 percent increase of out-of-state students from the academic years 2010-11 through 2014-15. Over the same period, the audit found a drop in in-state student enrollment of 1 percent.

The audit also found the university relaxed its academic standards for nonresidents, admitting 16,000 students whose scores fell below the median for admitted resident students.

The audit recommended the university look at ways to cut costs, including executive pay.