University of California revises proposed GPA requirement

• The Raised GPA will result in less Latinos and Blacks Being Eligible to Attend State Schools

University of California officials have retooled a proposal to tighten admission standards, recommending raising the required grade point average to 3.0 instead of 3.1. However, the change appeared unlikely to mollify critics, who say it's not necessary and could hurt admissions of black and Hispanic students. UC's governing Board of Regents is scheduled to vote Thursday on the change, which would take effect for students entering in the fall of 2007. The GPA proposal stems from a recent report that found 14.4 percent of California high school students are meeting UC requirements. Under state educational policy, UC is supposed to serve the top 12.5 percent of graduates, designing its admission standards to capture that group. In July, regents voted to make a number of small, mainly technical changes to admissions that were expected to drop eligibility to 13 percent. But the board postponed raising the GPA. Initially, the proposal had been worded to raise the minimum from the current 2.8 to as high as 3.1, depending on how the new SAT, which comes out next March, affects eligibility rates. The revised proposal is more straightforward, setting the minimum at 3.0. [more ] and [more ]

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