As part of its commitment to serve California students with a world-class education and top-tier faculty, the University of California announced today (Aug. 10) that it admitted a record 85,268 California first-years for fall 2022, a 1.2 percent increase from this past year’s 84,223 total, also a record-breaking year. This growth is made possible by a large and highly qualified pool of California students and critical state funding for enrollment growth.
“The University’s enduring dedication to California’s young people and its partnership with the state continue to attract unprecedented numbers of talented Golden State students,” said UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D. “It is our privilege to be able to offer admission to the state’s largest-ever class of California students.”
California students offered freshman admission are more diverse this year as well. Students from underrepresented groups increased to 43.8 percent of admitted California freshmen (37,377), up 2.5 percent from last year (36,462). This year, Latino and Latina students again make up the largest ethnic group among California admitted freshmen at 37.3 percent (31,763), about the same as last year’s 37 percent (31,220). African American students increased from 5.5 percent of admitted students in 2021 (4,608) to 5.7 percent (4,855) this year. While American Indians make up a small but growing proportion of admitted students, offers to these students increased by 36 percent, a gain of 136 students.
Meanwhile, UC made admission offers to 29,830 Asian American students, increasing their representation to 35 percent of admitted students (29,830), up from 33.7 percent last year (28,402). At the same time, the number of white students admitted this year decreased to 18.6 percent (15,874), down from 20.2 percent (17,024) in 2021.
“The University is proud to be the college of choice for so many outstanding Californians as it continues to honor its commitment to guarantee admission to high-performing high school students,” said Han Mi Yoon-Wu, executive director of Undergraduate Admissions at UC. “I’m excited for these students and the future of our great state.”
The socioeconomic profile of admitted California freshmen is similar to last year: 44 percent of admits would be the first in their family to earn a bachelor’s degree (down 1 percentage point) and 47 percent of admits report low family incomes (up from 45 percent last year).
Several campuses also made progress on reducing the proportion of their non-resident enrollment in compliance with the state Legislature’s increased support to campuses in last year’s 2021-22 state budget and per UC’s compact with Gov. Newsom, adopted as part of the recent 2022-23 state budget agreement. Offers to domestic non-residents were down 19 percent (5,359 students) from last year and down 12.2 percent (2,442) for international students. The admission rate for domestic non-residents decreased from 60.9 percent to 48.3 percent and for international students from 68 percent to 55.8 percent this year.
Due to the decreases in out-of-state and international admissions, total freshman admissions fell by 5.1 percent this year to 125,597. The University’s admission rate for all students decreased from 64.9 percent in 2021 to 59.5 percent this year. Because the number of applicants increased by more than the number of admission offers made, the admission rate for California residents dipped slightly from 65.7 percent in 2021 to 64.4 percent this year.
As a result of declining enrollment at California Community Colleges (CCCs) stemming from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, UC saw a decrease in community college transfer applications and thus a corresponding decrease in admission offers. The University admitted 25,253 students from CCCs, a decrease of 3,200 from fall 2021 when UC made 28,453 admission offers. However, the admission rate for CCC students this year rose to 75.7 percent, meaning campuses admitted proportionally more community college students. In 2021 the admission rate was 73 percent.
Data tables with campus-specific information for both freshmen and transfer students are available here.