Lawmakers must move quickly to prevent UC Berkeley enrollment cuts, university says

The University of California, Berkeley faces a court order to cut student enrollment by thousands, and the California Legislature must act quickly if it is going to prevent that from happening, according to a university memo.

On March 3, the California Supreme Court upheld a lower court order requiring that UC Berkeley reduce its student enrollment to 2020-21 academic year levels as a result of a California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit brought by a neighborhood group opposed to a student housing project.

While UC Berkeley initially announced that it would be required to reduce enrollment by 3,050, “after careful analysis, the campus has determined that in-person fall enrollment will need to be reduced by 2,629 students,” according to a UC Berkeley fact sheet.

“This number reflects an exhaustive effort to look at many categories of student status to determine a precise accounting of the needed reduction to in-person, on-campus enrollment,” according to the fact sheet.

In a Thursday statement, UC Berkeley announced that the university is working with state leaders to identify possible legislative solutions “that could address the significant impacts of the lower court’s ruling on enrollment decisions at UC Berkeley and other campuses.”

In the fact sheet released Friday, the university announced that it will create a wait-list of prospective students that will receive an offer to attend the university in the event that the California Legislature acts to provide a legislative remedy.

Lawmakers must move swiftly however, according to the fact sheet, as prospective university students are looking to make a decision on where they will attend in the fall.

“The timing of any legislative action will be critical given that most U.S. college students select their college by May 1, National College Decision Day,” according to the fact sheet.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, has introduced a bill that, while not a direct response to the UC Berkeley decision, could affect the university and many other campuses.

Senate Bill 886 provides a statutory exemption to the California Environmental Quality Act for University of California, California State University and California Community College campus housing projects under certain circumstances.

“This will streamline student housing production across the state and increase the supply of housing so more students can live on campus,” according to Wiener’s office.

This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 10:54 AM.