UC’s planned freshman enrollment posts slight gain

The University of California system reported Tuesday that 37,465 students are planning to enroll as freshmen in the fall -- an increase of just 75 students over last year at the nine undergraduate campuses.

Overall, the UC schools showed slight gains in the percentages of Latino and African American freshmen. Blacks will constitute 3.6% of new, first-year students from the United States, compared with 3% last year, and Latinos 17.5%, up from 16.3% last fall. Asian Americans will make up 41.4%, down slightly from 41.8%, and whites 31.4%, compared with 32.2%.

UC Merced, the newest campus, celebrated a large increase in freshmen. In 2005, its first freshman class had 870, but numbers dropped to 458 the next year. Now, 751 students said they will enroll as freshmen in the fall. Campus officials attributed the increase to UC Merced’s expanded offers of 17 majors, about double those at the start, and the addition of housing and clubs.

Systemwide, the relatively stable enrollment figures contrasted with last year’s mainly planned addition of more than 4,000 freshmen that had some crowded campuses putting three students in dorm rooms designed for two.

UC Berkeley had the highest of the so-called yield rates, with 42.7% of those admitted deciding to attend there and sending deposits to secure their spots. UCLA was next, with 39.2%. Merced had the lowest, at 5.6 %.

[email protected]