University Of California Admits Its Largest Class In History

The University of California system has announced that it’s admitted the largest class in its history for the upcoming fall semester.

Across its nine undergraduate campuses, UC admitted 166,706 students for fall 2024. That number includes 137,200 first-year students and 29,506 transfer students. Systemwide, the admission rate for California first-year students stood at 70%, up from 68% last year.

Included in the admissions were offers to 93,920 California residents, which was also a record high and represented an increase of 4.3% over last fall. Admitting more in-state students has become a UC priority, a system-wide response to recent pressure from state leaders and funding incentives tied to the university’s commitment to increase graduation rates and enroll more in-state students.

More than two-thirds (68%) of first-year admits were California residents. Out-of-state students comprised 18% of first-year admits, and international student accounted for 14%.

Latinos made up 39% of first-year admitted Californians, followed by Asian Americans (33%), whites (18%), Blacks (6%), American Indians (1%) and Pacific Islanders (less than 1%).

UC also offered admission to more students from groups historically underrepresented in higher education, Admission offers to underrepresented students rose to 45.4%.

The university admitted about 500 more African American students than last year, a gain of nearly 10%. And the proportion of admitted California students who would be the first in their family to attend a four-year college rose to 43.1%, a gain from last year’s 42.5%.

In a year where applications by low-income students has been marred by a seriously botched launch of a new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), UC still managed to increase the percentage of low-income students among the total admitted from 39.7% last year to 40.7% this fall.

The university offered admission to 26,430 transfers from California Community Colleges, a 7.8% increase (1,906 students) from last year.

It’s important to remember these are preliminary admission figures. They do not represent actual enrollment numbers, which will not be known for several months.

Nonetheless, University of California President Michael V. Drake stressed their importance. “These admissions numbers demonstrate the University of California’s commitment to expanding opportunity and access, especially for historically underrepresented groups, who comprise the largest-ever share of first-year students,” said Drake, in a press release. “We’re setting more California students on the path to a college degree and future success, and that translates to positive impact on communities throughout the state.”

UC also released the gender identity of admitted students this year. Women accounted for the majority (55%) of admitted first-year students and 49% of transfer students. Men made up 40% of first-year admits and 46% of transfer admits. Nonbinary students and those not reporting a gender identify accounted for about 5% of new admits.

The record admissions numbers were released on the same day that Drake announced his plans to retire as the UC system president, effective at the end of the upcoming academic year.

Drake, who has served as UC president for five years, said in a university release that “it has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as president of the University of California these past several years, and I am immensely proud of what the UC community has accomplished. At every turn, I have sought to listen to those I served, to uphold our shared UC values, and to do all I could to leave this institution in better shape than it was before. I’m proud to see the University continuing to make a positive impact on the lives of countless Californians through research, teaching, and public service.”