University of California Admissions Scandal
On Sept. 22, the California State Audit released documents that revealed inappropriate acceptances by four University of California (UC) institutions. Over the past six years, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Barbara have admitted a total of 64 under-qualified students based on donations and insider connections, according to the documents.
The California State Audit's investigation alleged that UC Berkeley admitted 42 freshman applicants who had connections to large donors and university staff. Of those 42 applicants, 13 of them were admitted to UC Berkeley's sports teams. Also according to the audit, 22 of the 64 total students inappropriately admitted to one of the four UC schools were put on athletic teams, even though they showed little to no athletic ability.
The University of California, Los Angeles, admissions building. Murphy Hall, sits dormant during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, in Los Angeles, Calif. (Michael Goldsmith / The Corsair)
The audit report shows excerpts of an anonymous UC Berkeley coach’s emails. The families and teams involved have likewise been kept anonymous. In an email sent from the assistant coach to the recruiting agent, the coach states, “if the [family] is willing to establish their legacy with Berkeley and [the sports team] very soon involving the figures you suggested, we’ve already established specific short term & long term needs of the program.”
Elaine M. Howle, the California State Auditor, wrote a letter to Governor Newsom and the state legislators about the findings of "improper acceptance." The letter stated that her office had found that thousands of students that applied to these four campuses were not being admitted fairly. Howle also said that both UC Berkeley and UCLA did not have "methodologies" in place to determine student acceptance, and that their staff were not properly trained to view applications.
The University of California is a system of 10 campuses, five medical centers and three affiliated national laboratories.
The Office of the President, located in Oakland CA, is the University’s headquarters.
In the letter, Howle directly attributed many of the UC admission mishaps to irresponsibility on the part of the Office of the President (UCOP), which supports all 10 UC campuses through funding and various programs.
“The Office of the President has allowed the weaknesses in these practices to persist...although [the UCOP] conducted an internal review of Admissions processes after the recent nationwide college admission scandal, the Office of The President relied heavily on campuses to review themselves," said Howle.
In March 2019, the national college admissions scandal known as "Varsity Blues" that involved prominent celebrities and the highly-ranked schools of USC, Stanford and UCLA made headlines. The bribery scandal drew a lot of attention toward admissions offices and what kind of procedures they have in place for deciding student admission.
In a statement emailed to Reuters by UC President Michael V. Drake the same day the audit report was released, Drake said that the individuals involved would be “disciplined” and that the issues brought up in the audit report would be “swiftly addressed” by the universities involved.
The California State Audit Committee has recommended that all students admitted into any of these four UC campuses for sports must have their athletic ability and donation records checked by multiple people rather than one sole admissions office employee, starting in the upcoming 2021-2022 academic year. The Audit has put recommendations in place and also suggested that the UCOP implement guidelines for Fall 2021 admissions. This would include having two people look at athletes' talent, one of which must not be from the athletics department. The other recommendation is to have a faculty member keeping an eye on student athletes' participation in sports, to ensure they continue being involved after admission.
Santa Monica College (SMC) is the top-rated community college in transfers to the UC institutions. In 2018, SMC had a total of 28,800 enrolled students. 1,272 of those students transferred to UC Campuses, 504 of which were admitted into UCLA. According to the audit, from the years of 2013-2018 the largest population of students admitted nationwide into UC schools were predominantly white, and had annual family incomes averaging around $150,000 and higher.
“UCLA is made up of donors and elites which [explains] why transferring to UCLA is a huge challenge, because of the rich,” said SMC communications major Miguel Camponuevo. "When you are wanting to transfer to a four-year university, you expect them to look at your GPA and accomplishments. With UCLA, one feels like they’re showing how much they’re worth by wealth and not skills or grades."
While Caleb Silver did not start his college career at SMC, he enrolled in UCLA in 2018 as a transfer from Los Angeles Valley Community College to study music. However, after just one year, he transferred to the University of Portland, and is finishing his degree there. Among the several reasons that led to his transfer, the high costs and ‘cliquey’ student body were leading factors.
“I was overwhelmed with high living costs and they kept hiking tuition; I felt it was too much for non-rich people," Silver said. "Education is a survival trait not a luxury.”
Under the "Facts and Stats" section on the SMC website, over 3,000 international students attend SMC from 110 different countries. The improper admission practices of UC universities unveiled by the audit could potentially hurt a large number of SMC students who are of lower socioeconomic status or are not privileged to have the same connections as other students.
The UCOP has not been clear on whether or not they are planning on enforcing the recommendations written in the audit report. The report states that they said they plan to take "prompt action" in ensuring that the morality of their admissions practices is upheld.
