In a reluctant but expected cost-cutting move, the University of California has revamped its admissions policy, marking the first time in the system's history that every eligible freshman won't be offered a spot at one of its nine campuses.

Instead, the qualified students not offered admission - an estimated 3,200 - will be invited to attend a community college their first two years, with a guaranteed transfer to a specific UC campus during their junior year if they complete the required coursework. Pending legislative approval, community college fees for those accepting would be waived.

The California State University system will also follow suit, admitting 4,200 fewer freshmen and offering the same community college promise, said spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow.

UC officials called the move "difficult" but said it was necessary in light of the state's multi-billion-dollar budget crisis.

"The fact that we will not be able to take some of these students this year is a very large disappointment," said Susan Wilbur, director of undergraduate admissions for the UC Office of the President. "We're very concerned about this, but we hope this is a short-term problem."

The reduction in admissions was first floated in January as part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget proposal. The governor says the plan could save the state as much as $46 million because community colleges are cheaper than UC and CSU.

In 2003-04, the state subsidy for a community college student was $4,100, compared with $7,200 for a CSU student and $14,300 at UC, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office.

Fiscal impact aside, some students who are waiting for admissions letters to arrive in the next few weeks said they would consider taking UC up on the offer.

"If they were to offer me a full ride to community college and a guarantee to go to Berkeley afterward, I would take that," said Khalida Fazel, a Mira Loma High School senior whose heart is set on attending the Bay Area university. "It's better than getting rejected totally. If I were to get into Berkeley now or in two years, I would be very thankful because I like that school very much."

Others said absent a burning desire to attend a particular UC school, they would consider alternate options, such as private universities.

"If a private school accepted me, I would probably go there rather than wait," said Ellen Shulock, a senior at McClatchy High School who applied to three UC campuses in addition to Stanford, the University of Santa Clara and the University of Southern California.

"None of the UCs is my ultimate dream school where I feel I couldn't go anywhere else," Shulock said.

Some UC regents have expressed concern that the transfer program will dilute the quality of the student body, saying it will be difficult to convince the smartest deferred students to attend a community college for two years.

Megan Villapudua, a senior at Sacramento High School, agreed.

"I personally don't have any interest in going to a community college," said Villapudua, who has been accepted to the private St. Mary's College and is waiting for word from UC campuses in Davis, Santa Barbara, Irvine and Santa Cruz. "As long as I could pay for it, I would rather go to a private school."

Wilbur acknowledged that the offer might be a tough sell, particularly for high-achieving students who have offers from other colleges and universities.

"The tuition waiver should be an incentive for some students," she said. "We hope they will consider this offer but don't have any sense of how many students will take us up on this it."

The UC policy change was final, despite the need for legislative approval of the tuition waivers as part of Schwarzenegger's proposed budget.

The state's 108 community colleges are already preparing to absorb as many as 7,400 additional students this fall but will need additional money to handle the influx, officials said.

"We will be working with the Governor's Office and the Legislature to make sure we have sufficient enrollment growth funds," said Linda Michaelowski, spokeswoman for California Community Colleges.

The changes in admissions mark the end of a proud UC tradition. In the past, all students who completed the rigorous "A-G" course requirements to enter the system were guaranteed a spot under the "referral" program.

For example, if a qualified student applied and was rejected by the very competitive UC Berkeley and UCLA campuses, they would have been offered a spot at UC Riverside.

This year, UC Riverside will not offer as many referrals as in previous years, but will have some engineering program slots.

Each campus will cut admissions by 200 to 425 students. Individual student applications were evaluated using the same criteria as in previous years, said Lavonne Luquis, spokeswoman for the UC Office of the President.

Student Laura Tanner was disappointed to learn that getting accepted to a UC school just got more complicated.

The senior at Hiram Johnson High School applied to UC San Diego but hopes to study nursing at Northeastern Oklahoma State.

"UC standards are pretty high, and you work all your high school career to meet those standards," Tanner said. "Then they say we don't want you now, you have to work another two years to get in here. It's discouraging."