California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a new law to overturn a recent court ruling that would have reduced enrollment at the University of California, Berkeley.
FILE - Students walk past Sather Gate on the University of California at Berkeley campus in Berkeley, Calif., May 10, 2018. California lawmakers are fast-tracking a proposal that could allow the University of California, Berkeley, to admit as many students as it planned for the fall semester despite a judicial freeze on enrollment. Both the Senate and Assembly are scheduled to vote on the idea on Monday, March 14, 2022. – California Gov.
In this case, the nonprofit group Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods had sued the university, arguing that adding more students would only worsen the housing shortage and increase rents for everyone in the San Francisco Bay Area city. “This would have shut the doors of college education for thousands of Californians,” said Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, a Democrat from Sacramento. “Our economy requires more college graduates. We know that college is the ticket to the middle class.”
The law Newsom signed on Monday is narrowly tailored to fix the specific problem at UC Berkeley. But it does not include broader reforms called for by lawmakers from both parties.