UC, CSU: Eligible students deserve a chance

An opinion piece from Michele Siqueiros, president of The Campaign for College Opportunity, was published in Capitol Weekly on March 20, 2015.  An excerpt:

Last year, 11,183 eligible students were denied admission to the University of California campuses to which they applied and were placed in a referral pool for UC Merced — where only 240 actually enrolled. The California State University system is turning away tens of thousands of eligible freshmen and transfer students alike. And both the UC and CSU campuses have raised admission standards for students in response – making it harder for high school grads today to earn a spot in college than it was for previous generations….

Our Governor and legislators must act first to honor the long-standing promise of a college education for all qualified California students by sufficiently funding our state’s public colleges and universities to meet capacity. Our colleges and universities must then maintain the confidence of the California voters, parents and students that tax and tuition dollars are being well spent.

The debate on whether or not to fund college enrollment when student and workforce demand is so high, is short-sighted. It’s time to rise above the annual budget debates and get serious about long-term, serious investments in higher education and the very people who will lead our state into the future. 

Read the full opinion piece on the Capitol Weekly website.