Cal State University poised to drop plan for tougher math admissions requirement
California State University officials are considering dropping an ambitious plan to give high-school courses a leg up in the admissions process.
The plan, which would require Cal State to teach some math, art and science courses to its incoming freshman class, was put in place in an effort to create a more diverse student body. But Cal State officials said that is unnecessary because students who do well in the math-intensive courses already attend Cal State, which already has students from diverse backgrounds.
Cal State officials have repeatedly said they will not make any changes to their current policies on the requirement that incoming freshmen take math courses. But the proposed policy change sparked heated debate.
State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) introduced a bill Monday to abolish the requirement in the CSU system. In a letter to Cal State officials, Yee wrote that the program is “not in the best interests of students, our state, and California.”
Cal State officials said they have no plans to scrap the requirement, but there will be discussion of the topic.
“It’s not that I’m not willing to have another discussion,” said Mark Everson, associate vice chancellor for colleges and university relations at Cal State.
At the same time, he said he’s not opposed to any policy changes that might make Cal State a more inclusive institution.
“I am happy that we have this conversation,” he said. “We want to make the campus a more diverse place, and we all know better than any one person what is the best model to get there.”
The math requirement is one of the most polarizing topics on campus.
Cal State has long been accused of being exclusionary. The Chronicle reported last year that students who aren’t from wealthy or minority backgrounds typically get fewer slots in the math department. And the idea that Cal State is not a diverse institution has led to the hiring of Black Cal State students as part of an effort to diversify the class.
Yee’s proposal to abolish the requirement got a round of applause from members of the faculty group, the University Faculty Association. But Cal State has been criticized for its insistence on hiring only Cal State students
