Exactly 80,289 first-years were admitted to at least one of the nine UC campuses this year, setting a record high.
In a press release Tuesday, the University Office of the President said that the “state’s continuing disinvestment in its public university system” brought about a low 3.6 percent increase in the number of California residents admitted, which does not meet the immense demand for a seat at a UC campus.
The release stated that with the exception of UC Berkeley, all campuses increased admission offers to out-of-state and international students, dropping the California admission rate from 69.7 percent (Fall 2011) to 65.8 percent (Fall 2012.)
Admitted non-California residents declined admissions offers at a higher rate than other applicants, and for this reason the 10 percent systemwide cap on enrollments of non-Californian undergraduates will not be met this Fall.
Preliminary campus admissions data also reflected a subtle increase in diversity, which includes more African Americans, Chicano/Latinos, students from low-income families, those who will be the first in their families to attend college and students from low-performing high schools, according to the release.
The findings do not include waitlisted applicants or students who received a referral admission to UC Merced, under the process in which UC-eligible students are offered a place in at least one UC.
“We have the capacity to educate many more students at our campuses,” said Kate Jeffery, UC’s interim director of undergraduate admissions in the press release. “What we don’t have is the funding to admit more California students.
— MUNA SADEK
