UC on track to enroll 10,000 more California students by next year
July 10, 2017 •
On July 6, UC announced that 70,000 incoming California freshmen and more than 21,000 in-state transfer students were offered a spot for fall 2017 on at least one of UC’s nine undergraduate campuses.
The preliminary admissions numbers also show increases in the proportion of Californians from historically underrepresented groups, as well as those from low-income families.
“We welcome this accomplished, talented group of applicants to the university,” said President Napolitano. “All of us — in California, and throughout the nation and world — will be enriched by their talent, curiosity and drive to learn and succeed. The University of California educates the best and the brightest true to our mission of education, research and public service.”
More California students are currently enrolled at UC than at any point in its history, and after last year’s enrollment jump of nearly 7,500 California students, UC is on track to meet its goal of adding an additional 10,000 Californians by the 2018-2019 academic year.
The total number of freshman admissions for fall 2017, including nonresident students, was 106,011, and for transfer students, the number was 24,685.
The preliminary data released today includes applicants admitted from waitlists and through the referral pool. The data tables, which include campus-specific information for both freshmen and transfers, may be accessed here.
The number of California resident freshmen admitted to UC for fall 2017 reflected a 1.7 percent drop from fall 2016, when a historically large class was admitted in keeping with the three-year goal of enrolling 10,000 additional California undergraduates by fall 2018. Notwithstanding the slight decline in admissions this year, the university is on track to enroll an additional 2,500 California residents this fall. Last year’s enrollment target of 5,000 additional Californians was exceeded.
During the two-year period since fall 2015, UC admissions offers to California resident freshmen have increased by 13.2 percent.
Admission of community college transfer students grew by 3.4 percent, or 806 students, in fall 2017. This year’s increase — which comes after the largest transfer class in the university’s history in fall 2016 — is in keeping with UC’s goal of enrolling two new California resident freshmen for every new California resident transfer student for the 2017-18 academic year.
UC’s continued efforts to broaden the racial, ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of its undergraduate student body is also reflected in the makeup of the admitted class.
The share of California resident freshmen from historically underrepresented groups grew to 38.7 percent of the total, compared with 37.8 percent a year ago. Admitted Chicano/Latino students increased to 33.2 percent from 32.3 percent of all admitted California freshmen last year. The proportion of African American admitted freshmen rose from 4.9 percent to 5 percent in fall 2017.
The proportion of African American, Chicano/Latino and American Indian students transferring from community colleges also grew — from 34.7 percent in fall 2016 to 35.8 percent for this coming fall. The number of Chicano/Latino students increased to 29.7 percent from 28.3 percent last year while the proportion of African American transfer students remained flat at 5.4 percent of the total.
The admissions data also show gains in the number of California freshmen from low-income families, jumping by 2.5 percentage points to 39.8 percent of all newly admitted California freshmen. Similarly, the share of California freshmen who would be the first in their family to graduate from a four-year college rose to 43 percent in fall 2017 from 42.7 percent last fall.
