College Admissions

May 1, 2019

Private California colleges win changes in scandal-related legislation

California private colleges continue to oppose a revised bill that seeks information on legacy admissions. They contend that a threatened Cal Grant loss will hurt low-income students.

Larry Gordon

March 28, 2019

California legislators seek reforms after college admissions scandal

Lawmakers say they want to level the admissions playing field. Sweeping proposals would add oversight to athletics admissions, ban legacy admissions and regulate private counselors.

Larry Gordon

March 28, 2019

College admissions scandal upsetting to California's low-income students

Some students wonder whether their college spots are taken by affluent cheaters. Most still believe hard work in high school will land them at a good college.

Larry Gordon

March 14, 2019

Charities disavow links to mastermind of college bribery scheme despite online claims

Leaders of youth-serving organizations in California and elsewhere said William Singer, who pleaded guilty to orchestrating an elaborate fraud to skirt admission standards at elite universities, falsely claimed to be partnering with them to help low-income children go to college.

David Washburn

March 13, 2019

Wealthy California parents undermine push for 'meritocracy' in college admissions

Most parents charged in the bribery scandal are from California, as are those who carried out the schemes and received the bribes.

Louis Freedberg

October 24, 2018

California's SAT scores rise, beat national averages

While overall scores rose, only 48 percent of California students did well enough on the SAT to be considered fully college ready. Ethnic disparities remain as well.

Larry Gordon

August 8, 2018

Living the college dream: high-performing, low-income students reach for the nation’s top colleges

Students aiming for the Ivy League, Stanford, UC Berkeley or other top private and public universities learn about how to get there.

Mikhail Zinshteyn

March 7, 2018

University of California president wants to offer guaranteed admission to qualified community college students

The program would be similar to one offered by the California State University system.

Mikhail Zinshteyn

November 15, 2017

University of California should be more lenient about late transcripts, stop withdrawing admissions, panel says

The move to more leniency about transcript verification came in response to the controversial withdrawal of admission to nearly 300 incoming students at UC Irvine last spring. They were reinstated and the university apologized.

Larry Gordon

October 17, 2017

To help those who need to stay close to home, state tells CSU to favor local students in admission

The new state budget requires CSU to develop by May new preferences for qualified applicants from the local regions around campuses. The action grows out of concerns that more CSU campuses and majors are becoming overcrowded and are turning away students.

Larry Gordon

September 26, 2017

Less than half of all students fully college-ready on revised SAT test

The test’s content was dramatically changed last year to align much more closely with subject material taught in high school. Gaps among racial groups persist in California and nationally.

Larry Gordon

August 20, 2017

'A pathological optimist,' counseling award winner urges students to pursue college aid

Statewide award recipient Lynda McGee was praised for her efforts to get low-income students into college. She says that some students should try to attend college away from home to have a better shot at finishing in four years.

Larry Gordon

July 12, 2017

More recommendation letters likely to be sought for UC admissions

The new policy would allow UC's nine undergraduate campuses to seek recommendation letters and other information from up to 15 percent of their freshman applicants. The change will be monitored to see if it hurts low-income and minority students.

Larry Gordon

July 12, 2017

Fresno Unified increases applications to CSUs and UCs

More students applied to CSU and UC colleges once they got timely information from counselors and others.

Theresa Harrington

July 6, 2017

UC admits more students from outside California but officials expect more state residents will enroll

The number of freshman admission offers to -in-state students declined 1.7 percent to 69,972 but UC officials say they still expect a rise in actual enrollment. Meanwhile the offers to students from other states and nations were up 4 percent in the last year before new enrollment limits on them go into effect.

Larry Gordon