University of California reduces its low-SAT acceptances

Los Angeles Times:

The University of California admitted fewer students with low SAT scores to this year's freshman class than it did in 2003, following criticism that the university was accepting ill-prepared students in a back-door effort to boost enrollment of underrepresented minorities.

Overall, UC campuses in 2004 admitted nearly 2,200 fewer applicants with scores of 1000 or below on the widely used college entrance exam, a drop of 26.6% from the year before, according to a Times analysis of admissions figures. The national and state averages on the exam are about 1020 of a possible 1600.

Critics of the university's past admissions practices found some vindication in the new data. They said the change showed UC had responded to complaints from UC Regent John J. Moores that it was accepting too many students with below-average SAT scores and possibly violating the state's ban on affirmative action.

UC seems to be trying to increase the number of Latino students:

Across the UC system, the small shift to admitting more high scorers mainly benefited white and Asian applicants, who together make up more than three-quarters of such applicants.

In contrast, among students with SAT scores of 1000 or below, Latinos were the largest ethnic group applying and accepted. Within that relatively low-scoring group, they also were granted entry by at least one UC at a higher rate than others: 58% of Latinos with lower SATs were accepted, compared with 54% of Asian Americans, 42% of whites and 38% of African Americans.

Around the Blogosphere:

UC starting to obey the law?