Court could force UC Berkeley to cut 3,000 first-year seats

Los Angeles Times 19 February 2022

The University of California, Berkeley, one of the United States’ most highly sought-after campuses, may be forced to slash its incoming autumn 2022 class by one-third, or 3,050 seats, and forgo US$57 million in lost tuition fees under a recent court order to freeze enrolment, writes Teresa Watanabe for the Los Angeles Times.

The university’s projected reduction in freshmen and transfer students came in response to a ruling last August by an Alameda County Superior Court judge who ordered an enrolment freeze and upheld a Berkeley neighbourhood group’s lawsuit that challenged the environmental impact of the university’s expansion plan. Many neighbours are upset by the impact of enrolment growth on traffic, noise, housing prices and the natural environment.

The University of California Board of Regents appealed the ruling and asked that the order to freeze enrolment be stayed while the appellate process proceeds. Last week, an appellate court denied that request. The regents on Monday 14 February appealed that judgment to the California Supreme Court. The university said in a statement the court-mandated decrease in enrolment would be “a tragic outcome for thousands of students who have worked incredibly hard to gain admission to Berkeley”.
Full report on the Los Angeles Times site

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