UC San Diego officials recently announced the college will no longer participate in the Transfer Agreement Guarantee program.

For years, California community colleges students have been able to sign a TAG agreement that guarantees admission to a specific University of California school. But many universities, such as UC Berkeley and UCLA, are no longer participating in this arrangement.

According to UT San Diego website, UCSD campus officials opted out of the TAG agreement because, “explosive growth in the number applications under the program, coupled with sharp cuts in state funding for the University of California, have threatened to swamp the campus.”

As well, strong eligible transfer applicants who did not apply through TAG were being rejected said Penny Rue, vice chancellor for student affairs at UC San Diego, in an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“There is a fundamental question of fairness to all qualified applicants,” Rue said. “Is it fair to guarantee admission to these students when we’re turning away transfer students with 3.7 GPAs?”

In 2012, the UC system limited students to one TAG application. The hope was to decrease the high demand of applicants. But the demand for UCSD did not decrease.

The recent announcement alarmed many students, who are now worried their TAG applications may be void with the new policy in place.

Patricia Gibson, De Anza College transfer center coordinator, said students who already have an outstanding UC San Diego TAG application don’t need to worry. But TAG agreements are no longer available starting fall quarter 2014.

“The largest portion of students that get accepted, get accepted without using a TAG,” Gibson said. “Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have the TAG as an option.”