How does this proposal fit with the California Master Plan for Higher Education?
The 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education calls on UC to select first-time freshmen from among the top 12.5% of California public high school graduates and has been amended to specify that UC guarantee all students in the top 12.5% a place somewhere in the UC system if they apply. The Master Plan explicitly accords to UC the responsibility to set the criteria for determining the top 12.5%. Subsequent legislative reviews have recommended that UC rely on factors beyond grades and test scores alone in determining UC eligibility. The new policy is consistent with the Master Plan intent to offer access to a UC education to a broad group of California’s best students and with the Legislature’s interest in evaluating students based on multiple criteria. The new policy defines the top 12.5% differently than in the past. Students who fall in either the top 9% in the state or the top 9% of their class will together represent an estimated 10% of the statewide graduating high school class. Student
