UC Enrollment Increase

* Your May 7 editorial, “Our Ailing Education Master Plan,” accurately portrayed the challenges California educators face in trying to fulfill the promises of the Master Plan for Higher Education. Despite the difficulties of continuing to providing low-cost, high-quality college education for all high school graduates, the basic premises upon which the plan is based are as sound today as they were three decades ago when it was conceived.

Unfortunately, though, your editorial gave readers a false picture of enrollment trends at the University of California. It is true that when enrollment figures for all three tiers of California’s higher education system--UC, California State University and the community colleges--are tallied together, the numbers are down. But taken separately, UC has seen a record increase in enrollment and applications over the past decade. The percentage of eligible California public high school graduates choosing to attend UC has in- creased over the last three decades from an average of 6% to 8.8%.

The increase in enrollment has come despite the rise in student fees and the loss of more than $455 million in state funds to UC since 1990. We attribute that trend to UC’s affordability model, which earmarks one-third of the increase in student fees to financial aid.

RICHARD C. ATKINSON

President, UC

Oakland