SDSU must restore local student guarantee policy - Lei-Chala I. Wilson and Patricia Washington, Sign on San Diego

In response to several years of deep budget cuts, San Diego State University President Stephen Weber in September announced an end to the 7-year-old policy of admitting every qualified applicant from SDSU’s service area – San Diego County south of state Route 56 and Imperial County. In place of the admissions guarantee, he set a new policy of preference points for students from this area sufficient to guarantee that they represent 37 percent of freshmen, and requiring freshmen from outside the area to live in SDSU residence halls. Weber said he had been “forced to ration educational opportunity.” The reaction and debate began immediately.