UC Berkeley wins back-and-forth fight with residents over student enrollment cap

A unanimous vote from the California State Legislature against a proposed enrollment cap for the University of California, Berkeley signals support for college students living in the area. The California Supreme Court originally sided with Berkeley residents, saying that the university had to accept 3,000 less students into the 2023-2024 incoming class. Wiki Commons

Residents have been in a legal battle with the University of California, Berkeley over student enrollment.

Earlier this month, the California Supreme Court sided with Berkeley residents, saying the university must decrease its student enrollment by 3,000 for the fall 2023 semester. The enrollment would have had to freeze at approximately 42,000 students for UC Berkeley, which already has an 18% acceptance rate. 

The plaintiffs — largely consisting of the local Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods groups — pointed to environmental factors as the culprit. The group said that the increasing student enrollment will have negative effects on the environment and should be viewed as an issue under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), a 1970 act that was passed to protect the state's wildlife and natural resources from being overrun with development.

Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods primarily argued that the steadily increasing student population would worsen the local housing shortage and increase rent prices for residents in the area.

But two weeks later, the California State Legislature overturned that ruling in an emergency decision that reversed the enrollment cap. The decision prevents the enrollment cap from being implemented for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year.

The legislation, SB 118, was signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said student enrollment at a college campus is not singled out as a project under the CEQA.

“I’m grateful to the Legislature for moving quickly on this critical issue — 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,” Newsom said in a March 14 statement.

SB 118 was penned by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and passed unanimously  with a 69-0 vote in the State Assembly and a 33-0 in the State Senate. The legislation went into effect immediately.

“Students were never intended to be considered pollution,” Skinner said in a March 14 statement. “SB 118 ensures that California environmental law does not treat student enrollment differently than any other activity in our UC, CSU or Community College long-range development plans.”

Berkeley’s issues with student enrollment and community relations is a common trend that can extend to other universities across the nation. In Orange, Chapman University has had tension with the community regarding student housing in Old Towne Orange, especially regarding the lack of on-campus housing and students living in accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in the area.

As student enrollment increases at Chapman — with a goal to eventually reach 10,000 students at the Orange campus — issues between community members and Chapman students have evolved.

The Panther will be publishing a piece exploring the historical relationship between the Orange residents and Chapman University students when the university community returns from spring break.