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<p>I believe it is a Berkeley problem, and probably common to a fair amount of state universities. It’s because the administrative staffs don’t have the resources to deal with lots of struggling students. But because they are state universities, they have an obligation to admit a certain number of in-state students (who meet certain academic standards). OTOH, universities such as MIT and Stanford are able to retain more students, because there is more administrative support for doing that.</p>
<p>FWIW, I think the argument that sakky is making that universities should not admit students who are unlikely to meet minimal standards would not be workable (at state universities) because it would be considered highly unpopular among the taxpayers, if not outright discriminatory.</p>
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<p>It would not surprise me if these reforms to engineering curricula that I hear about lately to make it more inviting to people who would otherwise major in something else bring about a drop in engineering salaries.</p>