According to Matt Krupnick of the Hechinger Report, this is going to become the norm in many states.

Californians increasingly can’t get into state’s public colleges

They were once the envy of the world for the access they offered to high-quality education for all students at a low price. But California’s public colleges and universities delivered something different to Andrew Hotchkiss when he applied for admission two years ago: a punch to the gut.

Hotchkiss, now 21 and from Fontana, Calif., was snubbed by the selective Berkeley, Los Angeles and San Diego campuses of the public University of California system, but never expected California State University at Long Beach to turn him down too. After all, any California resident who is eligible for a UC campus, which Hotchkiss was, is all but guaranteed entry to the Cal State system. For years, it was a safety net of sorts. That’s no longer true.

Hotchkiss was eventually admitted to UC Riverside but his rejection from the popular and crowded Long Beach campus reflects the turmoil and declining fortunes of what was previously regarded as America’s best state higher education system — and one of the most respected in the world. It also serves as a dramatic symbol of how years of budget cuts at public universities and colleges are taking their toll in disturbing and sometimes surprising ways.

“I was incredibly surprised” to be turned down by Long Beach, Hotchkiss said on a dazzlingly sunny April day at UC Riverside.