"We believe in the end of the day this is a positive step to make our universities look more like the state of California in terms in diversity and work force and all the rest," UC President Mark Yudof said.
UC officials say the goal is to have more students apply to the UC system.
"The real effect of this guarantee, admissions guarantee, is that it functions as a motivator for students to submit their applications and complete the courses that UC requires," UC Davis spokesperson Mark Rashid said.
UC also has another way for selecting students statewide. Under the current plan 12.5 percent are offered a spot based on their GPA, sat and sat single subject test results.
But now, UC will lower that statewide number to 9 percent and eliminate the sat subject tests.
Some Asian-American leaders say doing away with those subject tests puts Asian students at a disadvantage.
"Then Asian students cannot demonstrate where they are academically proficient in those subject matters where they are the strongest, that is very troubling," education activist Henry Der said.
"There has been some concern that Asians will lose ground in this reform of eligibility but in actual numbers more can be said to be receiving comprehensive review," UC Santa Barbara spokesperson Michael Brown said.
The new eligibility policy will go into effect in the year 2012. That means this year's high school freshmen will be the first to see these changes.
