U.C. planning to admit more students from California

under a plan being drawn up by University President Janet Napolitano.

This comes after a couple of years of U.C. officials taking heat for offering more spots to out-of-state and foreign students

Of the 62,000 new freshman and transfer students admitted to U.C. schools this fall, about 20 percent were from other states and countries. The numbers were even higher at UCLA and U.C. Berkeley, the two most difficult schools to get into.

The big increase in the number of foreign and out-of-state students in recent years has contributed to much tougher U.C. admission standards for California students. A recent study found that overall admission rates have sunk to less than half of what they were in the mid-1990s. And many of those gaining admission to U.C. are not able to attend the campus of their choice.

Non-residents pay a lot more to attend to U.C. than in-state students – about $37,000 dollars in tuition compared to a little more than $12,000 for Californians, and that’s helped boost U.C.’s budget.

But the trend toward admitting more non-Californians has angered some state residents, including members of the Legislature. Now, Napolitano says she is ready to address those concerns with a plan to significantly increase enrollment of California residents.

Napolitano intends to lay out her proposal at next month’s U.C. Regents meeting. She says it will apply to all nine undergraduate campuses, including UCLA and Berkeley.

The state Legislature has offered the University of California a $25 million funding bonus if it increases enrollment of in-state students by 5,000 next year. Previously, U.C. officials have said that target would be difficult to reach, and it’s unclear how many more California students would be accepted under Napolitano’s plan.