San Francisco (AP) - The University of California's governing board on February 6, 2009, unanimously approved a major overhaul of its admissions policy that will greatly expand the pool of undergraduate applicants but guarantee entry to fewer high-achieving students.

Set to take effect with the freshman class of fall 2012, the new eligibility standards adopted by the UC Board of Regents represent the biggest change to UC admissions policy in nearly 50 years. It is designed to give many more high school seniors a shot at attending one of the nation's top public universities.

The new rules will reduce the number of students guaranteed admission based solely on their grades and test scores, but increase the number whose applications will be eligible for a full review by an admissions committee. A regents committee gave the proposal preliminary approval on Wednesday.

Under the revised qualification requirements, applicants also will no longer have to take at least two SAT subject exams, which officials say blocked many otherwise-qualified students from seeking admission to a UC campus.

“You can't get much fairer than this policy,” said UC President Mark Yudof. “We look at the whole student, and we look at more students ... It clearly will not diminish the quality of the students.”

Officials said the plan would encourage more students to apply and could potentially increase the number of low-income and underrepresented minority students, but it's hard to predict its impact on campus diversity.

Some critics see the new admissions policy as an attempt for the university system to skirt a 1996 ballot measure that banned affirmative action at public institutions in California.

“The only possible reason for it, in my opinion, is to change the ethnic composition of the people attending the university,” said Jack Citrin, a political science professor at UC Berkeley. “My main objection is that it is clearly a lowering of the academic standard for eligibility at the University of California.”

Some Asian-American groups are concerned the new rules could lead to the admission of fewer Asian-American students, who made of 36 percent of applicants admitted in 2007-08. The Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus had urged the regents to postpone the vote to allow more study of the plan's impact on various ethnic groups.

Under current rules, the top 12.5 percent of the state's high school graduates - as well as the top 4 percent at individual high schools - are guaranteed admission to at least one of UC's 10 undergraduate campuses, though not necessarily their school of choice. Currently, almost all students outside those groups are automatically rejected.

The new policy, which has been under development since 2004, would only guarantee admission for the top 9 percent statewide and the top 9 percent at each school. Those two groups combined make up about 10 percent of the state's graduating seniors.

A large new group of students who currently are not eligible for UC will be able to make their case to campus admissions officers. UC officials estimate that 21.4 percent of California high school graduates will be eligible for a “comprehensive review” of their applications, compared with 13.4 percent in 2007.

Along with grades and test scores, admissions officials will review the achievements, application essays, family backgrounds and extracurricular activities of students who meet certain criteria.

To be eligible, students will have to complete 11 of 15 college preparatory courses by the end of their junior year, maintain a weighted 3.0 grade point average and take the main SAT or ACT with a writing component.

UC regents on Thursday also approved a plan to expand financial aid to students from families earning less than the state's median income of $60,000. The Blue and Gold Opportunity plan will guarantee that students from those families receive enough financial aid to cover UC's annual fees of about $8,000.

By Terence Chea