As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger makes his money-saving pitch to initially divert some of the state's brightest high school graduates to community colleges, University of California officials Thursday debated whether the proposal could work.

Members of the UC Board of Regents expressed doubt most students who are qualified for the highly competitive UC system would spend their first two years attending a community college over other four-year institutions.

Schwarzenegger has proposed that the state's 108 community colleges absorb as many as 7,000 freshmen next fall who would otherwise go to UC or a California State University campus. The governor says the plan can save the state $46 million because community colleges are cheaper than UC and CSU. In 2003-2004, the state subsidy for a community college student was $4,100, compared with $7,200 for a CSU student and $14,300 for a UC student, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office.

The governor's budget proposal calls for 3,200 freshmen to enroll at community colleges and transfer to a UC campus in their junior year; for would-be CSU freshmen, the number is 3,800. Students who accept that option would have their community college fees waived.

But several regents are skeptical that free tuition would be appealing to students who were planning on a four-year university experience.

"The smartest kids who are deferred are not going to accept this," said John Moores, chairman of the Board of Regents. "They will go elsewhere."

Said Regent Barbara Bodine: "I think it is going to be very, very hard to convince a UC-eligible student to go to a community college."

If UC's existing program -- known as dual admissions -- is any indicator, Moores and Bodine may be right.

Under dual admissions, freshmen who fall short of UC eligibility can apply and be accepted to a campus on condition that they attend community college for two years and perform well. Popularity of that program has been limited, said C. Judson King, UC's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

The numbers are still preliminary, but King estimates fewer than 500 students have applied for dual admissions in a pool of tens of thousands of applicants for fall 2004.

UC President Robert Dynes said educators also should not overlook the value of spending the first two years of college on a residential campus.

"You lose a lot in the educational experience by not having your freshmen and sophomore years on campus," Dynes said. "And we don't know how much money this would really save if you lose students to other schools in the process."

Some regents questioned how traditional community college transfer students might be affected as well. Last year, UC drew 70 percent of its transfer students from roughly 30 percent of the state's 108 community college campuses, King said. Most were schools in urban areas that were also near a UC campus. UC's top 10 feeder schools last year were in Southern California and the Bay Area.

The Los Rios Community College District -- which consists of Sacramento City, American River, Cosumnes River and Folsom Lake colleges -- has the second-highest transfer rate overall in the state for UC and CSU combined, said spokeswoman Susie Williams. The individual campuses, however, didn't make the top 10 list for either system.

Williams said the community colleges in the Sacramento region are dealing with higher rates of poverty and high school dropouts than many other schools around the state.

"We are also incredibly diverse in color and language here," she said. "So what's coming at us are students who are less prepared in some ways."

Community college transfers
Roughly 30 percent of the 108 community colleges provided more than two-thirds of students who transferred to University of California campuses in 2002-2003. Most of the schools are in urban areas and near a UC campus.

Top 10 for UC transfers, 2002-2003:
• Santa Monica College - 895 students transferred

• De Anza College - 589 transfers

• Diablo Valley College - 564 transfers

• Santa Barbara City College - 518 transfers

• Pasadena City College - 465 transfers

• Orange Coast College - 450 transfers

• San Diego Mesa College - 373 transfers

• Mount San Antonio College (in Southern California) - 328 transfers

• Riverside College - 328 transfers

• City College of San Francisco - 297 transfers

Top 10 for CSU transfers:
• De Anza College - 1,348 transfers

• Orange Coast College - 1,255 transfers

• Fullerton College - 1,225 transfers

• City College of San Francisco - 1,224 transfers

• Mount San Antonio College - 1,177 transfers

• Pasadena City College - 1,160 transfers

• Diablo Valley College - 1,050 transfers

• Fresno City College - 1,026 transfers

• El Camino College - 1,015 transfers

• Santa Monica College - 1,011 transfers

Sacramento-area transfers, 2002-2003:
• American River College - 201 transfers to UC, 973 to CSU

• Cosumnes River College - 69 transfers to UC, 444 to CSU

• Sacramento City College - 232 transfers to UC, 710 to CSU

• Sierra College - 152 transfers to UC, 866 to CSU

• Yuba College - 35 transfers to UC, 291 to CSU

- Source: University of California