A 25 percent increase in the number of students seeking to transfer to the University of California, Davis, for fall 2010 has contributed to a record high of more than 54,500 applications.

A total of 43,269 high school seniors applied for freshman status this fall, an increase of about 2.2 percent from last year's 42,344. And 11,252 prospective transfer students applied from another college or university, a 25.7 percent increase from last fall's 8,954.

Overall, UC Davis received 54,521 applications, 6.3 percent more than last fall's 51,298.

Other campuses also reported major gains in transfer applications, ranging from about 14 percent at Berkeley and UCLA to almost 50 percent at Merced; systemwide, transfer applications rose by 17.5 percent.

At UC Davis, the increase in transfer applications reflects campus efforts to increase the proportion of transfer students among its undergraduates and a UC systemwide effort to boost the number of students transferring from community colleges.

"We're really pleased to see that more students are taking the opportunity to come to UC Davis after they start their studies at community college," said Frank Wada, executive director of undergraduate admissions and university registrar. "The collaborations with our community college transfer advisers have contributed to this expanded opportunity."

One in four of the 10,092 California community college transfer applicants had participated in the Transfer Admission Guarantee program, which gives qualified applicants written guarantees of admission to UC Davis one year in advance.

UC Davis wrote 2,548 such agreements with community college students for fall 2010, about 33 percent more than the 1,897 written for fall 2009.

UC Davis will again offer guaranteed housing for transfer students. Last fall, UC Davis offered guaranteed housing to transfer students for the first time in many years; a total of 490, or 22 percent, of the students who transferred to UC Davis in fall 2009 live in student housing.

UC Davis enrollment targets for 2010 have not yet been set; in fall 2009, UC Davis enrolled 4,412 new freshmen and 2,219 new transfer students.

Applicants by ethnicity

A total of 39,879 California high school students applied for freshman status at UC Davis in 2010, compared with 39,238 for fall 2009. Those from traditionally underrepresented groups — African American, American Indian and Chicano/Latino — increased 7.7 percent; they account for 24.3 percent, or 9,700, of all California high school applicants. Last year, they accounted for 22.9 percent.

A total of 8,883 domestic applicants are seeking to transfer from a California community college this year, compared with 6,914 last year. Those from traditionally underrepresented groups increased 42.1 percent; they account for 21.8 percent of the domestic applicants, compared with 19.7 percent last year.

Offers of admission

UC Davis already has offered admission to about 7,000 freshman applicants through UC's Eligibility in the Local Context program. To qualify, students must be among the top 4 percent of graduating students at a California high school.

Other freshman applicants will be notified of admission decisions in late March; transfer applicants will be notified in April.

Wada encourages applicants to UC Davis to create a MyAdmissions account now so that they can easily check their application status online. To create an account, go to http://myadmissions.ucdavis.edu.

Systemwide applications

Systemwide, UC applications are up 5.8 percent overall, from 126,701 for fall 2009 to 134,209 for fall 2010. A total of 100,320 students applied for freshman status, a 2.4 percent increase over last year's 98,002. Transfer applications rose 17.5 percent, from 28,699 last year to 33,709.

Statistics for the UC system are available at http://www.ucop.edu/news/studstaff.html.

About UC Davis

For more than 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 32,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $600 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges — Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science. It also houses six professional schools — Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.