Goals
One of the University of California’s highest priorities is to ensure that a UC education remains accessible to all Californians who meet its admissions standards. This goal is articulated in California’s Master Plan for Higher Education, which calls for UC to admit all eligible freshmen and transfers, with freshman eligibility designed to capture the top 12.5 percent of California public high school graduates. It also calls for UC to admit all eligible transfer students from California Community Colleges (CCCs) who apply.
Of the over 215,000 applications for admission in fall 2020, about 172,000 students applied as freshmen and 43,000 as transfers. Campus admission decisions are based on a comprehensive review of qualifications and establish the incoming California resident class size based on State funding. Over the last five years, UC’s total undergraduate enrollment of California residents increased by more than 18,000: 1,500 in fall 2020, 2,500 in fall 2019, 3,000 in fall 2018, 4,000 in fall 2017, and 7,000 in fall 2016.
For 2020–21, UC is also estimated to have achieved its enrollment capacity goal of enrolling a 2:1 systemwide ratio of freshman to transfer California resident undergraduates, excluding Merced, for the fourth year in a row. The UC Transfer Pathways program supports this goal by helping community college students prepare for transfer admission to the most popular majors at UC campuses. Under a new agreement with the California Community Colleges, UC has created a Transfer Guarantee program, Pathways+, for community college students who meet certain criteria. This campus and major guarantee accompanies and is complimentary to UC's systemwide transfer guarantee program. The first cohort for the Pathways+ program is expected to enroll in fall 2021.
Admissions — freshmen
UC utilizes a comprehensive review process to make admission decisions, considering not only completion of rigorous college preparatory courses and high school GPA, but also talents, special projects, accomplishments in light of life experiences and circumstances, extracurricular activities, and community service.
The rapid growth in freshman applications to UC over the past two decades demonstrates the increased demand for a college education, the growth of California’s population, and UC’s continued popularity. UC continues to reach its Master Plan goals by guaranteeing admission to California resident applicants who are either in the top nine percent of high school graduates statewide or the top nine percent of graduates from their own high schools. Qualified freshman applicants are offered an opportunity to be admitted to another UC campus if they do not receive an offer of admission from the UC campuses where they applied.
Admissions — transfers
Almost all transfer students enter UC as upper-division juniors. Campus enrollment targets are based on State funding as well as capacity in major programs at the upper-division level.
UC’s Transfer Pathways identify a common set of lower-division courses for each of 20 of the most popular majors among transfer applicants. The Transfer Pathways present a clear roadmap for prospective transfers to prepare for their majors and be well positioned to graduate in a timely fashion from any UC campus. In fall 2020, the third year of the Transfer Pathways, those indicating Pathway-based preparation represented 50 percent of all CCC admits and 51 percent of all CCC enrollees. Many of these students also participated in other preparatory programs such as Transfer Admissions Guaranteed (TAG) and Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC).
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| Transfer Pathways Majors |
| Anthropology |
Computer Science |
Molecular Biology |
| Biochemistry |
Economics |
Philosophy |
| Biology |
Electrical Engineering |
Physics |
| Business Administration |
English |
Political Science |
| Cell Biology |
History |
Psychology |
| Chemistry |
Mathematics |
Sociology |
| Communication |
Mechanical Engineering |
|
In April 2018, UC signed an agreement with the California Community Colleges (CCCs) to guarantee a place within the UC system to students who complete one of the Transfer Pathways and achieve the requisite grade point average (GPA). The new Pathways+ program launched in August 2019.
Enrollments
The University enrolled over 226,000 undergraduates in fall 2020. The University enrolls freshman and transfer students from almost every county of California. UC’s Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) policy is designed to increase the overall geographic diversity of freshman entrants.
Undergraduate Enrollment, Fall 2020
|
| New Freshmen |
46,716 |
| New Transfers/Other[1] |
21,960 |
| Continuing Students |
157,773 |
| TOTAL |
226,449 |
Source: UC Data Warehouse
As academic qualifications have improved over the last decade, UC has maintained access for populations historically underserved by higher education. In fall 2020, 34 percent of new undergraduates received Pell Grants, a marker for low-income status. About 41 percent of UC’s entering students are first-generation, meaning neither parent graduated from a four-year college. These students are more likely to be from an underrepresented group (URG, African American, Hispanic/Latinx and Native American/Alaska Native students), to have a first language other than English, to enter as a transfer student, to be female, and/or to have a lower income than students with at least one parent who graduated from a four-year college (1.2.1).
The share of all undergraduates who are nonresident domestic and international students has increased in recent years, though their proportion is still much lower than at comparable public research universities. In 2019–20, the share of new undergraduates paying nonresident tuition went down slightly while the share of all undergraduates paying nonresident tuition went up slightly (1.4.4). In May 2017, UC adopted a policy[2] affirming that nonresident undergraduates “will continue to be enrolled in addition to, rather than in place of, funded California undergraduates at each campus.” The policy also capped nonresident enrollment at 18 percent for five UC campuses (Davis, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz) and, for the remaining four campuses (Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, and San Diego), at the proportion each campus enrolled in 2017–18. The policy went into effect for the 2018–19 academic year.
Having California students learn and live alongside students from backgrounds and cultures different from their own is part of a world-class educational experience. California students also benefit from the extra tuition paid by nonresident undergraduates, which is about $30,000 more per year than the amount paid by residents. That tuition helps to fund faculty hires, instructional technology, student advising, and other services that directly benefit California students.
[1] Other types of new students include those enrolling for a second baccalaureate or with limited status (not seeking a bachelor’s degree).
[2] Regents Policy 2109: Policy on Nonresident Student Enrollment: regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/governance/policies/2109.html.
Admissions and enrollment trends
Freshman applicants have gone up from 68,000 to 172,000 over the past two decades, averaging four percent growth per year. In fall 2020, the number of applicants decreased two percent compared to the previous year, while the number of students admitted went up ten percent and the number of enrollees went up two percent (1.1.1). While the fall 2020 incoming cohort applied to UC before the COVID-19 pandemic, they made choices about whether and where to attend college during the start of the pandemic, and entered UC during a time of distance learning. Application numbers are about the same as the year before but admitted students were deciding to come to UC at a lower rate, leading campuses to admit a higher proportion of applicants in order to meet enrollment goals.
Fall transfer applicants nearly doubled over the last 20 years, with average annual growth of four percent. In fall 2020, transfer applicants and admits both increased by five percent compared to the previous year, while enrollees went up eight percent (1.1.2).
The Master Plan specifies that the University maintain a 60:40 ratio of upper-division to lower-division students, which corresponds to a 2:1 ratio of new California resident freshmen to new California resident transfers. UC has moved from 2.3:1 in 2016–17, to an estimated 1.9:1 in 2020–21 (Universitywide). The Universitywide ratio excluding Merced is also estimated to be 1.9:1 for 2020–21, achieving the systemwide goal for this metric for a fourth year. The University continues to work toward achieving this ratio for each campus (except Merced) (1.1.3). Overall undergraduate enrollment (new and continuing students) continued to grow in fall 2020. Total enrollment was over 226,000 in fall 2020, up less than half a percent from the year before. This includes an increase in California residents of over 1,500, following increases of over 7,000 in fall 2016, over 4,000 in fall 2017, over 3,000 in fall 2018, and over 2,500 in fall 2019 (1.1.4).Academic preparation
Freshmen entering UC are increasingly well prepared, as shown by changes in the number of college preparatory courses and high school GPA over time (1.3.1). Transfer students are also increasingly well prepared, as measured by college GPA over time (1.3.2).
Geographic origins and nonresidents
UC has a lower proportion of out-of-state undergraduates than other public AAU universities. In fall 2020, only 17.2 percent of UC’s enrollees were out-of-state or international, compared with 30.5 percent for other AAU public institutions (1.4.1).
About 36 percent of freshmen and 49 percent of transfer students entering UC campuses come from within 50 miles of campus. These numbers are relatively stable and have risen only slightly over the past few years (1.4.2, 1.4.3).
The percentage of all undergraduates paying nonresident tuition and the percentage of new undergraduate students paying nonresident tuition went up slightly in 2019–20 (1.4.4).
Looking ahead
The University of California Board of Regents at its May 2020 meeting unanimously approved the suspension of the standardized test requirement for all California freshman applicants until fall 2024, providing time for the University to create a new test that better aligns with A–G curricular standards. However, if a new test does not meet specified criteria in time for fall 2025 admission, UC will eliminate the standardized testing requirement for California students.
Enrollment of new freshman and transfer students has been fairly steady for the last few years, but will need to grow for UC to meet its goal of awarding an additional 200,000 degrees (for a total of 1.2 million) by 2030. State funding is crucial for reaching this goal. UC also continues to work to close equity gaps. In 2020, 61 percent of California public high school graduates were from underrepresented groups (URGs) while 38 percent of new freshman enrollees at UC were from these groups, for a 23-percentage point gap.
For more information
Information on admissions
Data on UC admissions:
Data on UC fall enrollment
