Freshman application outcomes announced
April 19, 2011 •
In a year marked by record applications, unfunded enrollment on most campuses and continuing budget uncertainty, the University of California once again will meet its commitment to offer admission to every eligible resident freshman applicant and maintain access to higher education for traditionally underrepresented students, even while admitting more nonresidents.
The university received more than 106,000 applications from freshman hopefuls, the largest number ever. So far, 72,432 applicants have been offered admission, an increase of 4,100 over last year. With the exception of Riverside, which had unexpectedly high enrollments last year, and San Diego, whose admit numbers are very close to last year’s, all of the campuses saw increases.
California residents number 59,288 — about 500 more than last year, or 81 percent of all admitted students. This number is expected to rise as campuses continue to admit California students through waitlists, which all campuses except UCLA and UC Merced have implemented. In addition, more than 12,000 UC-eligible students from California who did not receive an admission offer from a campus to which they applied all will be offered the opportunity to attend UC Merced.
Campuses set their enrollment targets for California students based on state funding. Over the past 20 years, enrollment has grown while the state has sharply curtailed support for the university. UC now enrolls more than 11,000 students for whom it receives no enrollment funding.
Faced with a further budget cut of at least $500 million next year, “our campuses have had to make very difficult decisions to turn away highly qualified students who they know would thrive and contribute greatly to the life of their campuses. We know some of these decisions are deeply disappointing to students and their families,” said Pamela Burnett, interim director of admissions.
The greatest growth in admitted students was among nonresidents, who account for slightly more than 18 percent of all admitted freshmen, up from 14 percent last year.
See the complete report, including fall 2011 admissions data tables, on the UC Newsroom website.
