The University of California trustees have permanently banned the use of the SAT/ACT tests for deciding which undergraduates to admit.

But the pesky voters keep banning affirmative action.

So what they seem to be doing, especially at UC San Diego, the third most prestigious campus after Berkeley and UCLA, is doing affirmative action by school: a thumb is put on the scale in favor of applicants from heavily Latino schools, while kids who go to white or Asian schools are in big trouble.

UC San Diego’s website admits, California state constitution be damned, they are throwing open the doors

UC San Diego has made great strides toward becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). With 22% full-time Latinx undergraduate student enrollment as of fall 2020, we are considered an Emerging HSI. This puts us close to our goal of at least 25% full-time Latinx undergraduate enrollment, making us eligible for HSI designation by the U.S. Department of Education. …

As designated by the U.S. Department of Education, an HSI is one that enrolls a minimum of 25% full-time undergraduate Latinx students. Once designated as an HSI, UC San Diego will be eligible for grants to expand educational opportunities for Latinx students. These grants enable HSI campuses to expand and enhance academic offerings and strengthen student services and programs that increase retention and graduation.

Somebody is going through UC’s vast data portal and noticing a big change in who is getting into UC San Diego:

The above list is limited to large public high schools in LA county with at least 50 students applying to UCSD in 2022, classified as majority Asian or Hispanic based on its UCSD applicant pool.

You can find source data here on the UC website:https://t.co/wxFNbUaohv

— Steve Miller (@SteveMillerOC) March 26, 2023

I finished UC San Diego data for all LA and OC public high schools with more than 30 applicants to UCSD in 2022 where the applicants were either majority Asian (red line) or majority Hispanic (blue line)

The lines connect 2017 admit rate to 2022 rate, left to right. pic.twitter.com/nsOOYAsiP3

— Steve Miller (@SteveMillerOC) March 28, 2023

For example, at all Latino San Fernando HS in northern San Fernando Valley, in 2019, 48 applied to UC San Diego, 15 were accepted and 6 enrolled. But in 2022, 72 applied, 43 were accepted, and 10 enrolled.

At heavily Chinese and high-scoring Arcadia HS in the San Gabriel Valley, in 2019 374 students applied to UCSD, 85 were accepted, and 23 enrolled. In 2022, 386 applied, only 50 were accepted, and 13 enrolled.

I also looked up some stats on UCLA admissions for fall of 2022:

Downscale public schools

San Fernando: 12 accepted out of 102, with 9 enrolled

Compton: 3 out of 37, with 0 enrolled

Inglewood: 21 out of 39, with 6 enrolled

Garfield (Stand and Deliver): 20 out of 146, with 11 enrolled

Jefferson: 20 out of 30, with 11 enrolled

Total: 76 out of 354: 21%

Upscale public schools:

Arcadia: 29 out of 369, with 14 enrolled

San Marino: 13 out of 152, with 4 enrolled

Beverly Hills: 10 out of 109, with 7 enrolled

Santa Monica: 30 out of 304, with 12 enrolled

Agoura: 17 out of 146, 14 enrolled

Stuyvesant STEM exam school in NYC: 8 out of 110

Total: 107 out of 1188, 9%

Private Schools:

Harvard-Westlake 14 accepted out of 137 applicants, 4 enrolled

Loyola: 18 out of 178 applicants, 8 enrolled

Notre Dame: 10 out of 125, 6 enrolled

Total: 42 out of 440: 9.5%

So, it looks like your chance of getting into UCLA, assuming you are eligible to apply and apply, is about 10% at the two types of schools with better students, but 21% at the schools with lousier students. Of course, far more students at Loyola or Santa Monica HS appear to be eligible to apply to a UC.

A press release from UCLA:

Elizabeth Gonzalez to help lead UCLA efforts to become Hispanic-Serving Institution
Appointment comes as campus task force publishes HSI recommendations

Ricardo Vazquez | June 8, 2022

UCLA has tapped alumna Elizabeth Gonzalez, a longtime expert on equity and student success in higher education, as its inaugural Hispanic-Serving Institution director in the Chancellor’s Office as the campus ramps up its efforts to apply for and receive recognition as an HSI from the U.S. Department of Education.

As an HSI, UCLA would be eligible for a range of federal grants to bolster educational programs, research training and academic attainment for Latino, low-income and other underrepresented students. These would include, for example, research opportunities through the National Science Foundation specifically designed for HSI students, and programs designed to encourage postgraduate study.

For UCLA to be designated an HSI, 25% of its students must identify as Latino and 35% of all undergraduates must be Pell Grant recipients. Currently, approximately 21% of UCLA undergraduates are Latino.

A big part of Gonzalez’s responsibilities will no doubt be figuring out how UCLA can steal Hispanic students away from UCSD.

[Comment at Unz.com]