Uc's Assail On The Meat Class
Thursday, January 1, 2026
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While close people holler upward that the biggest displace for the time to come reduction of a various educatee trunk at UC is the rapid increment of educatee fees, other factors may play a much bigger role. One of the master copy reasons why nosotros volition survive seeing a decrease inward both underrepresented minorities as well as Californians at UC inward the time to come is that in that location is a excogitation to cut down the full disclose of enrolled students. At the same time, several campuses are planning to increment the disclose of high-paying out-of-state as well as international students, as well as this way in that location volition survive fifty-fifty less infinite for in-state students.
However, the biggest driving forcefulness behind the coming loss of diverseness is the utilization of SAT scores to decide admissions decisions. As Peter Sacks points out inward his Book Tearing Down the Gates, studies demo that SAT scores create non predict the success a educatee volition conduct hold inward college; rather SAT scores predict the average wealth of the parents of the incoming student. Since campuses inward the UC arrangement are directly motivated to rely to a greater extent than on endowments, they conduct hold a potent incentive to convey to a greater extent than wealthy students who volition attain to a greater extent than coin inward the acquaint as well as the future. Universities know that the best way to laid upward an endowment is to brand SAT scores the key forcefulness inward determining admissions. While UC directly has a comprehensive admission policy, several campuses nonetheless base of operations close of their admission decisions on exam scores, which besides helps to hold high ratings inward the U.S. News & World Report ranking system.
Nationally, many universities conduct hold directly replaced need-based fiscal assistance amongst merit-based assistance inward corporation to compete for the highest scoring students. The upshot is that wealthy students are existence subsidized past times middle-class students. In UC’s case, middle-class students subsidize lower-class students through a arrangement that raises fees for everyone, as well as thus gives a tertiary of the coin dorsum for fiscal assistance to the students whose parents brand less than a combined $70,000. It is these same middle-class families that conduct hold seen their investments wiped out as well as their abode values plunge. This is the truthful state of war on the middle-class: nosotros are directly seeing middle-class students dropping out of college because their parents cannot afford the tuition increases. Meanwhile, the middle-class students who create stay inward the UC arrangement facial expression upward huge educatee loans amongst high involvement rates.
However, the biggest driving forcefulness behind the coming loss of diverseness is the utilization of SAT scores to decide admissions decisions. As Peter Sacks points out inward his Book Tearing Down the Gates, studies demo that SAT scores create non predict the success a educatee volition conduct hold inward college; rather SAT scores predict the average wealth of the parents of the incoming student. Since campuses inward the UC arrangement are directly motivated to rely to a greater extent than on endowments, they conduct hold a potent incentive to convey to a greater extent than wealthy students who volition attain to a greater extent than coin inward the acquaint as well as the future. Universities know that the best way to laid upward an endowment is to brand SAT scores the key forcefulness inward determining admissions. While UC directly has a comprehensive admission policy, several campuses nonetheless base of operations close of their admission decisions on exam scores, which besides helps to hold high ratings inward the U.S. News & World Report ranking system.
Nationally, many universities conduct hold directly replaced need-based fiscal assistance amongst merit-based assistance inward corporation to compete for the highest scoring students. The upshot is that wealthy students are existence subsidized past times middle-class students. In UC’s case, middle-class students subsidize lower-class students through a arrangement that raises fees for everyone, as well as thus gives a tertiary of the coin dorsum for fiscal assistance to the students whose parents brand less than a combined $70,000. It is these same middle-class families that conduct hold seen their investments wiped out as well as their abode values plunge. This is the truthful state of war on the middle-class: nosotros are directly seeing middle-class students dropping out of college because their parents cannot afford the tuition increases. Meanwhile, the middle-class students who create stay inward the UC arrangement facial expression upward huge educatee loans amongst high involvement rates.