UCLA’s New Admissions Policy Could Improve Black Student Enrollment
By Ibram Rogers
Efforts by several Black community groups and higher education researchers to overhaul University of California, Los Angeles’ admissions policy appear to be paying off.
In response, UCLA officials are moving to adopt a more “holistic” admissions policy, in which a student’s achievements are measured alongside his or her personal experiences. Last month, two faculty committees approved the reforms, modeled after UC-Berkeley’s admissions policy. The vote of the final committee is pending.
UCLA would like these changes to go into effect for those applying in November for admission next fall, says Dr. Janina Montero, the university’s vice chancellor for student affairs. To meet that goal, the university is working to convene the members of the final faculty committee so they can issue the approval in due time, she says.
“We have one to go. I’m hopeful that it will be approved,” Montero says. “We need to move at a reasonable pace here and everybody understands that.”
Those who pressured UCLA to change its admissions policy include a coalition of several Black community groups in Los Angeles. The coalition was formed in June after it was announced that UCLA would be admitting its smallest Black freshman class in more than 30 years.
