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UC Berkeley enrollment for the fall semester is higher than expected, sparking fears that the university will violate an enrollment cap agreed upon with the city and put an additional drain on local services. 

Enrollment reached 33,145 students this semester, according to data released by the university last week, 585 more than expected. The 33,145 figure includes those studying abroad, so it does not reflect the actual number of students on campus – a figure that will be available in the spring. 

Under a 1990 agreement with the city, scheduled to expire in 2005, the university is not supposed to exceed a two-semester average of 31,200 students in Berkeley per year. 

Irene Hegarty, UC Berkeley’s director of community relations, said spring enrollment is generally lower than fall enrollment and may reduce the two-semester average this year. Still, she said the university is worried that it might exceed the cap. 

The town-gown agreement, part of a document called the Long Range Development Plan, does not set out any specific penalties for exceeding the cap. But it does require the university to conduct a new study of the effects of student growth on the local environment. It also calls for a new enrollment agreement with the city. 

Arrietta Chakos, chief of staff for city manager Weldon Rucker, said significant student and staff growth has significant fiscal impacts on the city. 

UC Berkeley enrollment for the fall semester is higher than expected, sparking fears that the university will violate an enrollment cap agreed upon with the city and put an additional drain on local services. 

Enrollment reached 33,145 students this semester, according to data released by the university last week, 585 more than expected. The 33,145 figure includes those studying abroad, so it does not reflect the actual number of students on campus – a figure that will be available in the spring. 

Under a 1990 agreement with the city, scheduled to expire in 2005, the university is not supposed to exceed a two-semester average of 31,200 students in Berkeley per year. 

Irene Hegarty, UC Berkeley’s director of community relations, said spring enrollment is generally lower than fall enrollment and may reduce the two-semester average this year. Still, she said the university is worried that it might exceed the cap. 

The town-gown agreement, part of a document called the Long Range Development Plan, does not set out any specific penalties for exceeding the cap. But it does require the university to conduct a new study of the effects of student growth on the local environment. It also calls for a new enrollment agreement with the city. 

Arrietta Chakos, chief of staff for city manager Weldon Rucker, said significant student and staff growth has significant fiscal impacts on the city. 

Berkeley provides a host of services for the university, including sewer, fire response, and paramedic response. Hegarty said the university, in accordance with the Long Range Development Plan, pays the city about $500,000 per year to offset costs. 

Chakos puts the figure between $300,00 and $500,000 and says it is not enough. 

“It’s our belief that [the payment] is woefully inadequate,” she said. 

The city has spent the past five months analyzing the cost of the services it provides to the university, but Chakos said Berkeley will need an outside consultant to complete the work. The city manager’s request for a $50,000 study is currently tied up in City Council politics. 

City Councilmember Kriss Worthington said that with negotiations on a new Long Range Development Plan set to begin soon, it is vital for the study to move forward. 

“The city is not in a good negotiating position because we don’t have the information,” said Worthington, whose district stretches south of the UC Berkeley campus. 

Mayor-elect Tom Bates said that, once the information is available, he will push the university to fully compensate Berkeley for city services. 

But the enrollment issue is bigger than UC Berkeley alone. Between 1999 and 2010 the larger, nine-campus University of California system is expecting a 40 percent surge in student enrollment, known as Tidal Wave II. UC Berkeley is expected to absorb 4,000 of the new students over time, and has taken in roughly 2,000 already. 

Bates said the city can take 4,000 new students but will have to work with the state and the UC Board of Regents to either limit the number of students coming to UC Berkeley long-term, after Tidal Wave II, or win state dollars required to properly reimburse the city for services. UC Berkeley, like all UC campuses, receives much of its funding from the state. 

In the meantime, Hegarty said UC Berkeley is considering a range of short-term strategies to keep enrollment down. In the past, she said, the university has provided $500 tuition rebates for students, near graduation, who finish their studies in the summer rather than spend an extra semester on campus. Hegarty said the university will probably put that program in place again this summer, but she warned that it has met with only limited success in previous years. 

“So far, we haven’t had huge numbers taking us up on that,” she said. 

Hegarty said the university will also consider expanding its study abroad program to draw more students away from the campus. 

Hegarty said that, while increased enrollment might raise concerns about the cap, there is a positive spin on the issue. 

“The good news... is that fewer students are dropping out,” she said. 

Bates added that the increase in students will also give the local economy a boost and provide the city with a jump in sales tax revenue. 

Contact reporter at  

scharfenberg@berkeleydailyplanet.net