As we move into spring, there is a lot of news about US Universities.  Students interested in attending a top US school should take note!

After months of legal maneuvering, UC Berkeley finally find a way to admit a full incoming class. For the last month, both students and college administrators were afraid that a California Supreme Court ruling would mean enrolling 3,000 students less than UC Berkeley had intended. However, the California Legislator managed to pass a new law overturning the supreme court decision.

Gavin Newsom California’s Governor, a Democrat, signed the bill into law, saying, “I’m grateful to the legislature for moving quickly on this critical issue,” the governor said in a prepared statement. “It sends a clear signal that California won’t let lawsuits get in the way of the education and dreams of thousands of students, our future leaders and innovators.”

Read more about the nuances of this case in the Chronicle of Higher ED.

Last week there was an online firestorm after the NYTIMES published an op-ed by a UVA student about “self-censorship.” Emma Camp says she came to college for rigorous debate but found and atmosphere that stifled learning.  She wrote: “Being criticized — even strongly — during a difficult discussion does not trouble me. We need more classrooms full of energetic debate, not fewer. But when criticism transforms into a public shaming, it stifles learning.”

However, some noted that she was not so chastened as not to speak up in the venerable NYTIMES. This provocative op-ed led Chronicle reporter Oyin Adedoyin to look into the issue.

Adedoyin reviewed surveys of student speech from the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles and the Knight Foundation which depicted a more complicated picture than the one Camp describes at UVA.  The UCLA report indicated that “eight out of 10 students from each ideological group — far left, liberal, middle of the road, and conservative — either agreed or strongly agreed that their institutions encouraged them to have a voice and share ideas openly. According to the report, about three-quarters of far-right students reported “never” having experienced discrimination with respect to their political beliefs; roughly two-thirds of conservatives and over 80 percent of middle-of-the-road students reported the same. Similarly, roughly 80 percent of the far-left and liberal students reported never having experienced discrimination or having been excluded from activities because of their political beliefs.”

Also, the Knight report indicated that “90 percent of white students and 82 percent of Hispanic students believed the First Amendment protected people like them, a stark contrast to the 51 percent of Black students who felt the same way…About 20 percent of Black and Hispanic students reported feeling unsafe on campus because of something someone said about their identities, while just 14 percent of white students felt the same way.”

This complex issue requires thorough research that the Chronicle provided!

As the spring looms, students are keen to hear from universities about their applications! Though some schools have already released decisions, many are waiting till “late March” or even April 1^st! All the Ivy League schools release regular decision offers on the same Thursday in March. We anticipate it will be March 31^st. Hang in there.