UC Davis announces new records for fundraising and admissions as regents raise tuition rates
It was a year of records for UC Davis.
The University of California, Davis, announced Thursday it had raised over $230 million, the most in donor history, and a record-breaking 63,650 gifts and pledges for the past fiscal year. It also said in a Thursday news release that it had offered admission to an all-time record 52,524 freshman and transfer applicants, 31,773 of which were California residents.
It was largest applicant pool in history — 105,850 students — and the school offered admission to 14% more students compared to last year.
The announcement came the same day the UC Board of Regents raised tuition for all UC schools, the first time it had done so since 2017. The hike would equal roughly $500 a year per student for the next five years at the system’s nine undergraduate campuses.
UC Davis launched the largest fundraiser endeavor in its history, “Expect Greater: From UC Davis, for the World,” in October and raised $1.3 billion out of the scheduled $2 billion goal. During the campaign, roughly half the donors gave to the school for the first time.
Its total endowment reached $2.2 billion on May 31, UC Davis said in a release.
UC Davis Health raised a record $71.4 million, which includes a $4 million donation from entrepreneur Daryl Geweke. The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art also broke its previous record, raising $7 million.
“We are slowly but surely overcoming one of the most demanding times of our lives and this fundraising record is proof that we’re going in the right direction,” said Shaun Keister, the president of the UC Davis Foundation.
The UC system as a whole admitted its largest and most diverse undergraduate class ever after receiving a record number of applications, officials announced earlier this week.
Admission of California freshmen reached an all-time high with 84,223 students and 36,462 of them, or 43%, are students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. Latinos were the largest group admitted for the second year in a row, making up 37%. Asian Americans made up 34%, white students 20% and Black students 5%. The rest were American Indians, Pacific Islanders or those who declined to state their race or ethnicity, officials said.
“These remarkable numbers are a testament to the hard work and resiliency of students and their families across California,” said President Michael V. Drake. “I am particularly heartened by the social and economic diversity of those offered a place at UC. Fall will be an exciting time on our campuses.”
The campuses also admitted 30,883 transfer applicants, an all-time record high. Of those students, 53% will be the first in their families to earn a four-year college degree, according to figures released by the university system.
The undergraduate tuition increase includes a 2% surcharge for the incoming class next year, declining for subsequent classes until it is phased out by 2026. Graduate student tuition would be adjusted annually by the rate of inflation.
The tuition revenue, UC officials said Thursday, would help pay for needed repairs and maintenance, reduce class sizes, boost student instruction, enhance student services and provide more support to improve graduation rates and reduce achievement gaps.
More than half of UC undergraduates would not be affected by the increase, since their tuition and fees are covered by financial aid. UC officials say, more than 106,000 California undergraduates would receive more grant aid under the plan, giving them additional funding for housing, food, books and other nontuition expenses. That’s because 45% of the new tuition revenue would go toward financial aid for California students.