Regents Postpone Raise in GPA Requirement

It looks like the proposal is coming under attack from the usual suspects. Here is the link from the SF Chronicle.

The biggest and it seems, only, complaint seems to be that the new GPA requirement would reduce the number of minority students eligible for UC admission. While this argument has statistical weight to it, it is fundamentally flawed on several counts.

1. Keeping admissions requirements low or as I would say "dumbing them down" is not a long term fix to the very real problem of below average educational opportunities that accrue to minority students. In essence it does nothing to address this problem, rather it puts of the date of doing something serious about public education in impoverished areas by artificially keeping standards lower than they should be.

I have long thought affirmative action in college admissions does the same thing; It puts of needed reform in favor of lower standards. I would argue that keeping GPA standards low hurts minority students in the long and even short run.

2. The UC's are meant to be much more selective than other state schools. We should not imperil the level of students that the University attracts in order to let in unqualified people. Granted this new GPA requirement would not affect Berkeley (or UCLA) much, but it could affect other UC's. It should not be to much to expect students to have at least a B- average.

3. Raising GPA standards affects the State's other minority groups (asian and white students) as well. Of course falling from a 6% eligibility rating to a 4% rating is a bigger fall in % terms than a 31% to 27% fall. But isn't the question that minority advocates should be looking at: "why do only 6% of African American high school students qualify for UC admission?" Rather than spending their time fighting a much needed rise in requirements, it would better serve them to spend their time figuring out what to do about high schools in inner city areas. I have a solution for them: vouchers... But politics has gotten in the way of this common sense idea already.Email This Post!