Latino students are largest group of admitted first-year, in-state students at UCs this year

A record number of first-year California residents were admitted to University of California schools this year — and 38% of them are Latino, according to preliminary data released Tuesday.

This year’s accepted class includes the largest ever class of historically underrepresented students, which includes African American, American Indian, Chicano and Latino students, according to UC’s Office of the President.

Latinos lead the pack as the largest group of admitted California first-year students, with students of Asian descent close behind at 34%. The percentage of white applicants was 19% while Black applicants and American Indians were at 5% and 1%, respectively.

Nearly half of the admitted California residents could be first-generation college graduates, and an even larger percentage of those admitted to a UC are from low-income households.

In all, the nine undergraduate campuses accepted nearly 67% of those who applied.

This data comes a little more than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court declared affirmative action, or using race as a factor in college admissions, to be unconstitutional. However, affirmative action was banned in California in 1996, so it did not play a role in shaping the diversity of this year’s accepted UC class.

The increase in California first-year students accepted for the fall totaled 88,285, an increase over 3.5% from the previous year. That bump can be partly attributed to an agreement between the UCs and Gov. Gavin Newsom that increased state funding for the 10-campus system to make up for financial losses of higher-pay nonresidents.

The cost of tuition for an in-state student in the 2023-24 session was expected to be $13,752; an out-of-state student would pay $46,326 for tuition over the school year, according to UC estimates. Both amounts were expected to rise the following year, though UC officials noted the new costs — $14,436 and $48,636, respectively — were expected to stay the same over the next couple of years.

However, the number of admitted students from other states and the number of admitted students from other countries still rose from last year, as did the number of admission offers to transfer students.

Locally, diversity increased at UC Berkeley, UC Davis

The numbers of California residents and underrepresented students admitted to UC Berkeley and UC Davis increased this year, following the larger trend seen at all UC campuses.

Chicano and Latino students made up 29% of acceptances at UC Davis. While that number does not directly correlate to the number of students who will choose to enroll at the university, it will likely bring UC Davis closer to becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution, or one that has at least a 25% Hispanic population. Last year, the university had a Hispanic population of 24.1%, not including undocumented students who identify as Hispanic. If UC Davis were to become an HSI, it would become eligible for certain grants to assist in expanding educational opportunities for Latino students.

Overall, UC Davis made offers of admission to 44.9% of all applicants, about 10% more than last year. The capital region university opened its doors to 41.9% of first-year students who applied.

At UC Berkeley, the overall number of underrepresented minority students increased, but the number of offers to underrepresented transfer students dropped slightly.

Overall, admission rates remained low at 15.1%, second only to UCLA (9.5%).

There was also an increase in offers made to first-generation students. About 60%, or more than 8,600, of the accepted students are women.

The average unweighted GPA of the admitted class remained 3.92, and the average weighted GPA was 4.44, versus last year’s grade-point average of 4.46.

Meanwhile, UC Merced made offers of admission to about 90.8% of applicants overall, and 93.3% of first-year applicants. Nearly 60% of accepted applicants come from low-income households, and 54% would be first-generation college students — both higher percentages than those of any other UC. The percentage of accepted students who identify as Chicano or Latino decreased slightly from last year, which may be due to the slight decrease in Chicano/Latino applicants.

Admission versus enrollment

It is important to know that this data is not equivalent with the statistics for where the admitted students choose to enroll. That information will not be available until classes are well underway. A news release from UC Davis noted that California residents accept offers of admission at higher rates than nonresident students.

While 49,131 students were accepted to UC Davis this year as first-year students or transfer students, total fall enrollment — including undergraduate, graduate, professional students, interns and residents — is expected to be approximately 40,775.

This story was originally published August 8, 2023 at 2:57 PM.