UC Shows Rebound in Admissions

The University of California, marking a recovery from the budget-related reductions of 2004, said Tuesday that it has accepted all academically qualified California applicants for freshman admission this fall and will not require any to attend community college first.

The university has invited 50,017 California high school seniors to enroll for the fall at one or more of its campuses, according to annual freshman admissions figures released Tuesday. The figure, a record, represents a nearly 11% increase from last year but a rise of less than 1% from the last “normal” admissions cycle in 2003, UC officials said.

The state’s budget woes prompted UC last year, for the first time in four decades, to turn away qualified in-state students and redirect some to two-year colleges. So on Tuesday, admissions officials spoke with some relief of this year’s increases.

“We are very pleased,” Susan Wilbur, director of admissions for the UC system, said in a conference call with reporters. “The university is very proud of its historic commitment to be able to accommodate all students who are UC-eligible.”

Wilbur called 2005 “a year of good stability” for the university, unlike 2004, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger required UC to cut freshman enrollment by 3,200 students as part of a long-term funding agreement. Although legislators later restored part of that funding, some students eligible for admission last year were required to attend community college as a condition of being admitted to UC as juniors.

The Legislature will not vote on this year’s budget for several months but UC officials said they are confident the system will receive enough money to cover the higher enrollment as called for in the agreement with the governor. The figures released Tuesday, which are admissions offers, not actual enrollments, included invitations to join the first freshman class at UC’s newest undergraduate campus. UC Merced, scheduled to open in September, accepted 5,958 out of about 8,000 applicants, for a freshman class expected to number about 800. Because of the campus’ fledgling nature, officials at Merced are uncertain how popular the school will be.

Across the university system, admission was marginally easier this year. About 76% of those who applied were offered a slot at one or more campuses, compared with about 73% last year. But UCLA and UC Berkeley, the most competitive campuses, each turned away about three of every four students who applied, officials said.

Systemwide, the average “weighted” GPA of students admitted for the fall was down slightly from last year to 3.79, a figure that includes the extra weight UC gives for honors and Advanced Placement classes at high schools. That figure in 2004 was 3.80; UC officials described the change as insignificant.

Students become eligible for UC admission based on a sliding scale of grade-point averages and scores on standardized entrance exams, including the SAT and SAT II subject tests. Those minimum requirements are aimed at identifying a pool equivalent to the top 12.5% of California high school seniors. But to gain admission to a particular UC campus, students typically must meet much tougher standards.

At UCLA, offers of freshman admission were sent to about 27% of the more than 42,200 students who applied. UCLA admissions director Vu Tran said the figure appeared to show that the Westwood campus again this year attracted more applications than any other university in the system, or the nation.

“I’m happy that we continue to bring in a very strong freshman class,” Tran said. “But we do know that we have to turn away many, many talented and strong students.”

The average SAT score for California residents admitted to UCLA this year was 1341, down slightly from 1346 for fall 2004. At UC Berkeley, that average for such students this year was 1354, up from 1350 last year. A perfect SAT score for that group was 1600, though that recently changed to 2400 with the addition of an essay portion.

With the admissions letters now sent, UC campuses are holding events this month to persuade accepted students to enroll. Students have until May 1 to decide.

Across UC’s nine undergraduate campuses, Latinos, African Americans and Native Americans together represented 20.6% of California students offered admission this year, up slightly from 20% last year. Systemwide, Latinos constituted 16.9% of those offered freshman admission this year; African Americans, 3.2%; and Native Americans, 0.6%. Asian Americans made up 34.6% and white students 37.7%. At UC Riverside, in a continuing trend, blacks, Latinos and Native Americans were a larger combined percentage -- 26.8% -- of the admitted freshman class than at any other UC campus.

In contrast with previous years, such underrepresented minorities comprised a somewhat higher proportion of overall admitted students than they did last year at UC Berkeley and UCLA. At both schools, those three groups combined accounted for 16.5% of the students offered entrance this year. But at both campuses, those percentages remained below the levels of 1997, the last year the university was allowed to consider race and ethnicity in its admissions.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau, who was inaugurated last week, has recently expressed concern about low levels of minority representation on campus and said he does not believe that was what voters intended in 1996 when they approved Proposition 209. That statewide initiative bars the use of affirmative action in public universities and other agencies.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Fall semester freshman admissions

The University of California system is reopening its doors this fall to all academically qualified California applicants for freshman admission. Last year, admissions were limited due to state budget concerns.

*--* -- Systemwide -- UCLA Berkeley 2002 2003 2004 2005 2005 2005 *--*

*--* Total 47,929 49,669 45,136 50,017 10,209 8,493 Native American 292 281 255 279 40 42 African American 1,617 1,720 1,446 1,593 247 262 Latino 7,226 7,795 7,329 8,438 1,396 1,097 Asian American 16,066 16,125 15,037 17,297 4,381 3,491 White 18,465 18,640 16,951 18,844 3,312 2,906 *--*

Note: Out of state, international and referral students are not included in this report. Bona fide residents on a non-immigrant visa are also excluded.

Source: UC office of the president