Associated Press

San Jose State officials will continue to give preference to Santa Clara County residents in admissions.

The San Jose Mercury News reports (http://bit.ly/wM1Xc0) that the school backed off a plan to end the practice after a series of meetings that ended with a two-hour session on Monday. They had sought to limit class sizes in response to budget cuts.

But campus spokeswoman Pat Lopes Harris says the school had said it would give preference to local students for another year in published campus material, so admissions officers felt strongly that it could not change the policy now.

South Bay applicants to the school must meet minimum California State University requirements. But applicants from outside the area face stricter standards.