Enrollment Cap Remains in Place for UC Berkeley

On March 2nd, California's Supreme Court decided to pass a case between the University of California Berkeley and a community group known as Save Berkeley's Neighborhoods. Save Berkeley's Neighborhoods has successfully sued the university, creating an enrollment cap. The organization sued the school for its expansion plans, successfully enacting California's Environmental Quality Act. This abrupt change in admissions is expected to reduce Berkeley's headcount by 3,050, meaning the university will decrease its acceptance letters by 5,100. 

The Statements from the two parties have been vastly different. Dan Mogulof, a UC Berkeley spokesperson, announced that the lower court order would freeze UC Berkeley's Admissions at 2020 -2021 levels. According to Dan Mogulof, the devastation lies in the thousands of students accepted into the fall class of 2022. The University is attempting to mitigate the damage by finding alternative strategies for enrollment. Berkeley plans on prioritizing California residents and transfer students for in-person learning. However, for other students, the university is planning on increasing online enrollment and asking students to push back their enrollment until the fall of 2023. 

Phil Bokovoy, the President of Save Berkeley's Neighborhoods, made a statement regarding the Supreme Courts decision on upholding the lower courts decision, "we'd like to assure deserving California high school students that we are as disappointed as they are that UC has tried to use them as pawns in UC's attempts to avoid mitigating the impacts from the massive enrollment increases over the past few years." Bokovoy is encouraging the university to increase student housing before increasing enrollment. According to Bokovoy, pausing enrollment and increasing housing first would help the displacement of lower-income residents. 

Click the link below for more information regarding Berkeley's Enrollment Cap and California's Environmental Quality Act.