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UC Regents Raise Minimum GPA Standard to 3.0
By a vote of 14 to 6 last week, the UC Regents decided to increase the minimum grade point average required for freshman entering the UC system from 2.8 to 3.0.
The decision to raise the bar was the Regents’ response to findings that a minimum GPA of 2.8 allowed 14.4 percent of public high school graduates to achieve UC eligibility.
This percentage is higher than both 1996′s figure which allowed 11.1 percent eligibility with a 2.8 GPA and the California Master Plan which targets UC eligibility for the top 12.5 percent of high school graduates.
The new eligibility standard, which takes effect in 2007, is expected to remove approximately 700 to 750 matriculating students from the UC pool.
Many civil rights groups, political leaders and students oppose the Regents’ decision.
State Senator Kevin Murray, who is also the chair of the Black Legislative Caucus, wrote to the Regents with concern that the proposal punished rather than rewarded California’s youth for their high achievements.
At a gathering to protest the proposal, minority groups claimed that the decision would have a disproportionate impact on the state’s underrepresented communities.
The Regents do not believe this to be the case and argue that the effects of reduced eligibility will spread across all ethnic backgrounds.

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