San Diego State University officials admit they sidestepped getting community input in their rush to end the university's longtime local student guarantee policy.
San Diego Assemblyman Marty Block held a special hearing at Hoover High School in City Heights to understand why SDSU officials decided to do away with the policy.
It was just last month when SDSU President Stephen Weber announced the campus would no longer guarantee local students admission if they met minimum Cal State University requirements. Now they have to earn the same GPA and SAT scores as out of area students.
Local students who planned on attending SDSU next year say they can’t afford going to school elsewhere.
Block wanted to know if SDSU officials consulted with community groups before making such a drastic decision. The university’s Sandra Cook admits they didn’t do enough.
Cook: I wouldn't say no (community) group but I would say not as many groups as probably we should have.
Block: Okay, who in particular, just so we know. Which groups and which people?
Cook: I don’t know.
Education leaders across San Diego County are calling on SDSU to restore the policy. Block says other legislative fixes may be in the works.
