LOS ANGELES — The California Supreme Court on Thursday declined to lift an enrollment cap on UC Berkeley, leaving one of the nation's most popular campuses scrambling to cut its incoming fall class by one-third, or 3,050 seats, just weeks before it was set to release admission decisions.
The high court rejected the University of California's appeal to stay a lower court ruling issued last August that froze enrollment at Berkeley until the campus more thoroughly examined the impact of its burgeoning growth on housing, homelessness and noise. The court left intact a ruling by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman, who capped enrollment while the lawsuit filed by Save Berkeley's Neighborhoods, proceeds.
The fierce court battle has drawn national attention — and action by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently weighed in with an amicus letter urging the high court to lift the cap while the litigation proceeds to avoid harm to thousands of hard-working students and undermining the state's interest in increasing college access.
