Transfer admission guarantee requirements have been raised for UC campuses this semester, which could make transferring more difficult for Skyline College students.

For the first time in the UC system, the UC campuses have set a limit on the transfer admission guarantee (TAG) for all California community college students, effective this semester. Students may only apply for a TAG with one campus of their choice, rather than with as many schools as they wanted, which has been permitted in past years. Seven of the nine UC campuses are participating in TAG this year, including the UC’s at Davis, Irvine, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz.

For students to be eligible for a TAG, they must have a minimum of a 2.8 GPA and 60 UC transferable units by the end of the spring 2012 semester. The GPA requirements may vary by major and campus choice. Schools that never participate in the UC TAG program because of the high amount of applicants each year include California’s most popular UC campuses: UC Berkeley, which recruits students themselves rather than allowing students to apply for TAGs; and UCLA which has canceled their TAG program.

Skyline College Transfer Center Director Jacqueline Escobar sees this change as unfortunate for community college students planning to transfer to UC’s. Escobar explained that it is a result of what happened last year since the TAG application made its way to the internet.

“They allowed students to apply to all seven campuses, so students applied to all campuses whether they had serious interest or not,” Escobar said. “The UC end had to review it, as well as the Skyline faculty. UC decided that if they were going to continue with the tag program, they would set stronger limitations, so now it’s one TAG, one campus.”

Despite the new TAG rules in effect this year, some students don’t feel too bothered by the one-tag, one-campus rule change. Skyline student Edwina Yuan is a second-year student who plans on applying for a TAG to UC Irvine this month.

“Personally, I like it a little more because I am an indecisive person, so this is a way to force me to really think about what I want to do, and what school really fits me,” Yuan said. Currently, Yuan holds a 3.74 GPA and is preparing to apply for a TAG with UC Irvine as a criminology major this month. Yuan offered some advice about applying for a TAG.

“I always go to the transfer center, I always read the announcements, I always look at fliers, and most importantly I go to counselors,” Yuan said. “Utilize all the resources you can find, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.”

The UC system has made other significant changes to the TAG program as well. It isn’t just the one-TAG, one-campus rule change, but some GPA requirements have sky-rocketed in this year’s TAG program. To be eligible for a TAG with UC Davis, you must now have an overall 3.2 GPA this year, compared to a 2.8 GPA in the past, and engineer majors must have a 3.3 GPA. To be eligible for a TAG with UC San Diego, you must have an overall 3.5 GPA this year, compared to a 3.0 in the past.

However, Escobar had advised many students interested in applying for a TAG with UC Davis based on a 2.8 GPA requirement, only to find out about the new GPA requirements last May, which she feels is unfair to the students.

“It’s kind of late already if you start registering in April,” Escobar said. “We will always put out a workshop in the summer in case students need to change their schedule.” The UC TAG application is now open for students interested in applying for a TAG until Sept. 30, and the regular UC application will open up for all other interested students to apply on Nov. 1; the application process will close on Nov. 30. If interested in applying for a TAG, students are advised to see a counselor immediately.