UC Davis enrollment grows to 41k amid boost in new in-state and minority undergraduates
New figures from the University of California system show fall 2024 enrollment at UC Davis grew steadily to a new record alongside other UC campuses and totaled 41,239 total students on the Yolo County campus.
In late October, UC Davis announced Latino enrollment had reached a new peak of about 8,100 students or 25.1% of undergraduate full-time students, surpassing the U.S. Department of Education’s criteria of at least 25% to be designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Its designation as an HSI is pending, but would make the school eligible for grants from the federal government and foundations to expand academic offerings and improve the quality of its programming.
For the fall, the school enrolled 9,443 new undergrads, including 6,767 as first-year students direct from high school and 2,656 as transfer students, the university said Tuesday. The school said the new students came from 56 of California’s 58 counties and accounted for 83.4% of all incoming undergrads.
Among new UC Davis in-state undergraduates, the percentage of students from historically underrepresented groups (African American, American Indian, Hispanic/Latino and Pacific Islander) increased to 37.5% — the highest percentage in more than 25 years. Last fall, the percentage was 36.2%.
Among all new undergraduates, Asian students were the largest represented group at UC Davis, accounting for 35.2% (3,321 new students) of the class. Latino students were the second-largest group, making up 25.8% (2,433). White students accounted for 19.3% (1,824), while African American and Black students represented 4.4% (415 new students).
Across the system’s nine campuses, 198,718 undergraduates were enrolled for the academic year that started in late September. Residents of the state accounted for 84.2% of the system’s 236,070 undergraduates, an improvement compared with 83.5% a year ago. Out-of-state students totaled 17,369 while international students were just under 20,000 undergraduates.
The numbers were made public as the UCs faced continued calls to accept more in-state students while accepting more students of color a year after the Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action in the admissions process.
“The University of California is committed to expanding access and opportunity, helping our state’s brightest students from all backgrounds realize the value and promise of a UC degree,” UC President Michael V. Drake said in a statement. “These enrollment figures reflect the state’s investment in California students and the dedication of our staff, faculty and campus leaders to providing a world-class education.”
The report shows that STEM fields of study like engineering, life sciences and physical science are trending more popular among undergraduate students, while the number of architecture, business and social science majors steadily declined.
Figures from UC Davis also showed that 38.8% of new students were recipients of federal Pell grants — money awarded to students of families from among the lowest incomes, which do not have to be repaid — four points higher than a year ago (34.8%). Roughly 31% of all new undergraduates were considered low-income, the school said. The figures also show that 40.8% of those incoming new students are the first in their family to go to college.
Graduate students at Davis totaled 7,691 while the school had just under 1,200 health and science residents enrolled.
This story was originally published January 7, 2025 at 12:43 PM.
