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Audit Blasts UC System For Choosing Out-Of-State Applicants Over Californians

ELK GROVE (CBS13) — An audit claims the University of California system is admitting thousands of out-of-state students instead of higher-achieving California students in an effort to bring in more money.

In the last several years, out-of-state enrollment increased 82 percent while residential enrollment dropped 1 percent.

Jesuit High School senior Josh Salazar's list of academic achievements is a long one.

"I have a 4.24 cumulative GPA; I have a 2290 superscore for the SAT, with a perfect 800 math score; I have a 34 on the ACT with a few perfect scores there," he said.

He's been accepted into prestigious schools like Northwestern University. But he got a surprise from the UC system after he applied to Cal Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego and UC Davis. He was rejected.

"I got the first notification from Davis--I was denied there," he said.

Now a scathing California audit report is blasting the UC system's enrollment policies for reducing California resident enrollment while dramatically increasing the numbers of higher-paying out-of-state students.

UC president Janet Napolitano issued a stern response reading the audit report is "...a rush to judgement that is both unfair and unwarranted, blaming massive state budget cuts for creating the need to increase out of state enrollment.

Salazar's dad says it's all politics.

"It's very clear, that they understood exactly what they were doing—in order to make a point about budget cuts, they said were going to take more out of state students, who ends up getting hurt are the kids," said Roger Salazar.

Assemblyman Kevin McCarty wrote a bill that could cap out-of-state enrollment at the schools as soon as next year.

"We've been bringing in more and more people with big paychecks, but California families are being squeezed out if the UC system," he said.

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