The University of California will turn away qualified freshmen this fall for the first time in 40 years, telling about 10,000 of the state's best high school students to come back later, the university said Tuesday.

"It's been a very difficult year for students. It's been a very difficult year for the university," said Susan Wilbur, UC's undergraduate admissions director, citing state budget cutbacks that require that 6.7 percent fewer freshmen be admitted for fall 2004 than were in fall 2003.

One of the basic promises of California's educational system is that the top 12.5 percent of the state's high school students will be able to attend a UC campus.

But the university said Tuesday it admitted only 48,043 of about 58,300 California high school seniors who applied and were qualified to attend this fall.

About 2,600 were offered admission in winter or spring. The rest - about 7,600 - got letters inviting them to enroll in a new "guaranteed admission" program that requires them to spend their first two years in a community college.

They can enroll at one of the eight - soon to be nine - UC undergraduate campuses as juniors if they finish their community college coursework within four years, Wilbur said.

"It's very discouraging that after working so hard in school for four years, I'm not going to go to the school I wanted to go, even though I qualify," said Jackie Alvarino, a senior at Western High School in Anaheim who took Advanced Placement classes and has a 3.52 grade-point average - As and Bs.

Alvarino applied to UC Irvine and UCLA, but was instead offered the guaranteed admission program.

Rather than go to a community college, Alvarino said she plans to enroll at Cal State Fullerton.

"I spent all this time and effort with AP classes and other schoolwork ... anything less than a four-year school would be disappointing," Alvarino said. "Going to a community college would just be adding an extra obstacle for me to succeed."

Alvarino, who wants to be a teacher, said that after two years at Cal State Fullerton she might decide to transfer to UCI.

The University of California system is designed to accept the top one-eighth of the state's students - and guarantees admission to the top 4 percent at each high school. The California State University system is set up to accept the top one-third of the state's high school graduates, and automatically accepts students with B averages if they have completed the required classes.

CSU has its own enrollment problems this year and will accept fewer students as well.

One of UC's biggest concerns this year is the unexpected 15 percent drop in the admission of black freshmen from the previous year - the greatest decline among major ethnic groups, Wilbur said.

"It is an area of great concern to us," Wilbur said. "We plan to look into this more deeply."

Blacks represent 3.1 percent of the admitted UC freshman class, but they represent 6.7 percent of the state's population, according to the 2000 census. And only about half the blacks accepted are expected to enroll at UC because of scholarship offers by private universities.

Other major ethnic groups saw these drops in freshman admissions: American Indians, 9.2 percent; whites, 8.4 percent; Latinos, 3.2 percent; and Asian-American 1.9 percent.

Wilbur speculated that budget cuts coupled with student fee increases might have discouraged blacks from applying.

Fewer university staff members were available to go out to heavily black high schools to encourage qualified students to apply to UC, she said. Also, in seminars conducted for high school counselors this year, Wilbur said the news was emphasized that fewer students would be admitted - another potential source of discouragement.

In past years, UC Riverside has served as a safety net for freshmen, offering admission to eligible students who did not get into UC's more selective campuses.

This year, Riverside was able to admit all students who applied there but had no extra room to invite other freshmen, except for 1,120 engineering majors who had initially applied elsewhere, Wilbur said.

Next year, UC Merced is scheduled to open in the San Joaquin Valley near Yosemite National Park, with a projected freshmen student body of 3,200.

That will offer the chance for the university to resume growing its freshmen population, Wilbur said.

The guaranteed admission program is part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed 2004-'05 budget.

If approved by the Legislature in June, it calls for UC-qualified students to receive their first two years of college education free at community colleges, then transfer to UC.

The 7,600 students offered the new program have an average GPA of 3.46 in the UC-required courses, meaning they averaged between a B-plus and an A-minus in their core academic courses.

By comparison, the average GPA of the 48,043 students awarded UC slots for this fall was 3.80 - between an A-minus and an A.

The 7,600 students have until the end of June to accept the deal, specify which community college they will attend now and which UC campus they eventually want to attend. Wilbur said they will be able to choose UC Merced or one of the campuses to which they initially applied.

Funds have been designated to pay for special counseling for the students while they are at the community college.

It remains unclear how many of those students will take the offer.

"The freshman year is a big experience," said 17-year-old Ashley Law, a senior at Mater Dei High School who was admitted to UC Santa Barbara.

She said most of her friends are not interested in going to a two-year college.

"The whole atmosphere is different. Students live at home."

GOOD STUDENT IS CASUALTY OF THE SYSTEM
Jackie Alvarino is in the top 12.5 percent of state high school seniors, qualifying her for admission to the University of California system. But UC has asked her to go to a community college first. Her background:
• School: Western High, Anaheim
• GPA: 3.52
• Activities: Cross country, track, Spanish club, California Scholarship Federation, Peer Assistant Leadership, volunteer for the AVID program for college-bound students.
• Applied to: UCLA, UCI, Cal State Fullerton
• Accepted for Fall 2004: Cal State Fullerton
• Delayed admission: UCLA, UCI, UC Merced
• Her decision: Cal State Fullerton
• Major: English
• Career goal: Teach at Western