I’ll take a stab at it…
… in the UC system there are such a large number of schools that allows the system to provide a spectral range of educational options such that a student with academic deficiencies (remedial needs) who might not be admitted to what are considered to be academically top tier UC schools, has a plethora of other UC school options to apply to, which can address those deficiencies (and perhaps address them better/more efficiently).
… and, if the student who attended a UC school which was ‘downstream’ from the top tier UC schools, does perform in those remedial courses, bringing them up to speed - then the UC systems active transfer program allows for that student (who has shown they have mastered material) to transfer to a UC school ‘upstream’ from the one they are currently in.
Did I come close @bluebayou ?
We have similar issues with our State Flagships here in North Carolina - between University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, we do see some issues result from the mission to serve all students of the state by admitting students from all areas of the state and from many of the poorer more rural counties where the programs have far fewer resources (teachers, AP / IB courses, tutors, clubs/activities).
There are a not inconsequential number of Carolina first year students who come in from the top 10%, if not the top of their HS class, with 3.95-4.0 uwgpa, coming out of small rural under powered schools - who are on the receiving end of multiple sub 60% scores during the first exam series - and are shattered by this experience.
It may be more than just that the student didn’t have access to the AP/IB coursework material in their HS - it may be that student just didn’t academically evolve in the environment that accompanies the high powered / high resourced schools with tons of APs - and tons of students who are chasing the A’s in those AP courses, and Club president, and Varsity sports, and Captaincies - because those students are competing in a completely different environment.
This is likely one of the reasons Carolina has a fair number of students start their first semester ‘abroad’ before coming to campus in the spring semester as well as guaranteed sophomore starts for a number of students, and why their transfer admissions rate hovers between 45-55%. They must need to replace a fair number of empty seats.
I’m sure there are success stories as well.
But I do wonder if we are doing our best by all the students with this strategy - what happens to those kids who have to be replaced after first semester and first year? Do they drop out of the college experience, do they end up elsewhere, do they take 5+ years to finish - at what cost. Did we really do them a favor by giving them a ‘chance’ at the state flagship and dropping them right into it.
The alternative suggestions include the fact that the UNC system has like 15 other schools not named UNC-CH or NCSU. Would those students be better served by offering them a position at one of the other 15 schools, with more ‘remedial’ and base building level courses’, with the guarantee of a slot at UNC-CH or NCSU (engineering for example), once they have completed their base level courses and achieved a B or above in each course, and a cumulative GPA of 3.XX, to then start at the premier flagships? Kids who were going to succeed at UNC-CH should be able to do so at the UNC system school and then simply transfer in as sophomores or juniors, and kids who would have struggled at UNC getting dropped right into the shark tank, may in fact stand a chance at being able to master the material and learn how to study / how to prepare so now they have a standing chance at UNC-CH, and those kids who can’t achieve those criteria at the UNC system school, well, then they can see where they maybe fit better and have a chance to succeed or even thrive at the school they are in.