Testing Race-Neutral Admissions Models: Lessons from California State University-Long Beach

This policy analysis article examines how California State University-Long Beach, an institution where upward of 22,000 student applied for roughly 3,400 freshman slots and where the transfer class had to be reduced because of mandatory enrollment reductions, tested race-neutral admissions models in accordance with Proposition 209, which prohibits race/gender preferences. Testing occurred in the fall of 2002 and 2003 within a complex context where escalating demand for access came at a time of budget reductions and enrollment downsizing.