Fewer freshmen and transfer students, but UC Davis’ fall enrollment grows to nearly 40,000
Enrollment at UC Davis for fall 2019 grew by a little over 1 percent, boosting the total number of students studying at the university to 39,629.
Much of that growth came from increased enrollment in graduate and professional degree programs. In contrast, the number of freshmen and transfer students starting at UC Davis this fall decreased by nearly 5 percent compared to last year.
In addition, roughly one in three new undergraduate students were transfer students, with 3,101 enrolling at UC Davis for fall. The new enrollment figures reflect a UC systemwide goal to bolster transfer pathways for students currently studying at California’s community colleges.
Many of UC Davis’ transfer students come from regional schools such as Sacramento City College, American River College and Sierra College, according to Ebony Lewis, executive director of undergraduate admissions.
“It’s important to underscore the message that transfer students are very successful on our campus, and they bring a great perspective to our campus and broaden the intellectual curiosity across UC Davis,” Lewis said.
Comparing this year to 2018, UC Davis saw more students enrolled in graduate academics, professional programs such as law and medicine, and self-supporting degree programs. The growth comes as UC Davis works to expand and diversify its education offerings — just this year, the Graduate School of Management launched a fully online MBA program.
Despite the decline in freshmen and transfer students, UC Davis officials touted the overall increase in the percentage of California residents enrolled this fall. About 84 percent of the fall 2019 undergraduate freshmen and transfer students are California residents compared to roughly 80 percent last year.
Those numbers come as the UC system continues to prioritize enrolling more Californians at its campuses following a major 2016 state audit that showed students from outside the state and abroad were displacing qualified California students.
In the wake of years of major state budget cuts after the Great Recession, the UC system had enrolled more out-of-state students because of the higher tuition dollars they paid. The UC system has since capped the proportion of nonresident enrollment at UC Davis to 18 percent.
About 12 percent of new undergraduate freshmen and transfers this year are international students. That’s down compared to fall 2018, when about 16 percent of new undergraduate students were from abroad.
Overall, UC Davis’ fall enrollment includes students come from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, three U.S. territories, 112 countries and all but one of California counties.
Earlier this year, the UC system announced it had admitted a record number of freshmen and transfer students to its nine undergraduate campuses. UC Davis had offered 40,350 freshmen and transfer students admission this year. The UC system includes more than 280,000 students.
The deadline to apply to UC schools for the 2020-21 school year is Nov. 30.