This fall, 70 seniors from Cal High will be attending one of the 10 schools in the University of California system.

While a considerable number of seniors from Cal go to one of the UC schools every year, the number of in-state acceptances is rapidly declining.

Since 2009, there has been a 273 percent increase in the number of out-of-state freshmen accepted into the UC system as opposed to the meager 2 percent increase for in-state students.

Many parents and students from California have expressed their discontent, but the UC schools are becoming increasingly reliant on the extra tuition that the out-of-state and international students pay.

In fact, these non-Californian students pay nearly three times as much at $36,000 per year, compared to  in-state students, who pay $12,900 annually.

Senior Richard Um said this is unfair for in-state students who may be qualified to attend one of the UC schools.

“It makes sense to me why the UC system would accept more out of state students, but I don’t think that being out of state or in state should affect one’s admission,” said Um. “It is an unfair advantage for out of states and international students.”

John Wilton, UC Berkeley’s chancellor for administration and finance, told the Contra Costa Times that Berkeley’s revenue from out-of-state and international students is now at $160 million, about 7 percent of Berkeley’s operating budget.

UC Davis has also announced its initiative to grow its number of enrolled students by 5,000 by 2020, with an emphasis on out-of-state and international students.

Water Robinson, UC Davis’ associate vice chancellor of admissions and enrollment, told the The Sacramento Bee this policy would increase campus diversity and reduce the school’s reliance on state funding.

Senior Jordan Anderson agreed with Robinson that this measure would increase diversity but said the financial concerns of in-state students should also be considered.

“ I believe that it can bring a lot of diversity to UC campuses and give out of state students a better chance attending school here,” said Anderson. “However, it can also be a lot more competitive than it already is for people in California applying to UCs now who possibly don’t want to turn to out of state colleges because of cost or other factors.”

Many people have also expressed concerns that qualified students are being denied their rightful spots in the UC schools simply because they are from California.

“I think colleges should accept students based on their abilities, not backgrounds,” said Senior Qi Tian.

Senior Devashish Kashikar agreed with Tian, saying skills and merits should be the priority in college admissions.

“There might be students that are smarter than the ones that get accepted but they don’t get accepted because they aren’t priority since they live in California,” said Kashikar. “UCs should pick students based on their skills, not where they live.”

Like Tian and Kashikar, many students and parents have expressed that qualified students should be admitted no matter where they are from.

But Hans Johnson from the Public Policy Institute of California told California Forward that the qualified students are no longer guaranteed a spot in the UC schools.

“The popular campuses have referred a lot of students who technically are UC eligible, but because the pool is so competitive, just being UC eligible doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed admission,” Johnson said.

This trend has also upset a lot of students and parents who believe that the UC system was initially established to help the in-state students.

In addition, many have complained that the California students should actually be favored because their parents’ tax dollars go into supporting the UC schools.

“Obviously qualified out of state students deserve the chance to attend UCs if they want, but at the same time in-state students are supposed to have a leg up for UCs since their parents have been paying taxes to them for however long they’ve lived in California,” said senior Jazz Dohemann.

Senior Rainier Austin agreed with Dohemann.

“I definitely think that the UC system, considering that it was intended to benefit California residents, should accept all qualified residents prior to accepting any out of state students,” said Austin.

“The fact that even the tuition for the in state residents are more than twice the tuition for other state schools has to make you wonder where all the money is going,” she said.

Regardless of the use of the money, UC schools have higher revenue with each spot in the class given to an out-of-state student instead of a California native and there is not a foreseeable time when in-state students will have an equal playing field.