California admissions are up at UCSC

UC Santa Cruz officials say they are accepting more California freshmen for the Fall 2016 class, part of a system-wide effort to increase access to students from within the state.

According to a release from the Santa Cruz campus, UCSC offered admission to more than 22,300 California freshmen, nearly 4,728 more than last year, a 27 percent increase.

The campus expects to enroll 4,305 freshmen, with 3,805 coming from California. The anticipated freshmen enrollment represents an increase of 650 over last fall.

UC Santa Cruz also offered admission to 5,417 transfer students, and expects to enroll 1,144, with 1,094 coming from California.

“This was a very good year for many of our state students, both first-year students and those transferring from a California community college,” said Michael McCawley, Director of Admissions. “Increasing access and opportunity at our campus is being realized by hundreds more Californians than last year.”

The UC system has come under fire recently for accepting an increasing number of out-of-state students who pay higher tuition. According to the press release, California students will make up the largest portion of the 2016 freshman class.

The Santa Cruz campus saw a record number of applications — more than 49,000 — for admission to the 2016 freshman class. The overall freshman admission rate was 58 percent.

Thirty-three percent of admitted California freshmen are considered first-generation, coming from households where neither parent has a four-year degree. Twenty-eight percent are from low-income families.

Over a third (35 percent) of the admitted Fall 2016 class of California residents identify as Asian American, with 32 percent white/other, 25 percent Hispanic/Latino, 3.7 percent African American, 0.7 percent American Indian, and 0.3 percent Pacific Islander. An additional 3.6 percent of admitted students did not report their race/ethnicity.