The value of a college degree continues to rise. A bachelor's degree in particular provides unrivaled economic and health benefits not just for the individual earning the degree, but for the entire state. Therefore, it is not surprising to see growing demand for a college education coupled with growing eligibility for California's public universities among high school students striving to attend. Unfortunately, students are being met by an increasingly competitive admissions environment and universities have responded to the growing number of applicants by raising the bar for admissions, especially as state funding to expand capacity fails to adequately fund every eligible student. California is fortunate to be one of the strongest states in the nation, with a diverse and young populace and a thriving economy built on innovation and knowledge fueled by universities. This can only be sustained by increasing college opportunity broadly and specifically, increasing completion of the bachelor's degree while closing gaps in access and completion by race/ethnicity and gender. This report provides an update on California's progress and persistent challenges related to freshman access to the UC and CSU. While there is some promising progress, there are still many concerns to realizing the goal of capitalizing on the growing talent in California seeking college opportunity. [For the full report, see ED616960.]