UC registers the record number of Californians; Black steadies, Latino students

The University of California enrolled a record number of Californians in Fall 2024, and UC Berkeley joined UCLA in bucking national trends at institutions of higher learning that have seen a decline in Black and Latino freshmen in the first class since the US Supreme Court struck down affirmative action.

The information, released publicly Tuesday, comes as the nine-student campus program faces continued public pressure to take in more Californians and amid speculation about how their race will fare in a state where public universities and colleges have long been barred from considering race. and gender in reception.

In all, 198,718 Californians enrolled for the academic year that began in the fall at the program’s campuses from Davis to San Diego. California residents made up 84.2% of the 236,070 graduates, compared to 83.5% last year.

Of those there were 60,644 first-year students and transfer students from the state. The number of California residents in that category increased on six campuses. UC San Diego had the biggest jump, going from 8,436 to 8,907.

“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.”

Three campuses, however, saw a decline in enrollment in California. In Irvine, first-year and transfer Californians dropped from 7,848 to 7,541. In Riverside, the drop was from 6,390 to 6,371. At Merced, the drop was from 2,610 to 2,283. Despite the decline, Merced, UC’s new campus, is largely from Southern California and has a nearly 99% undergraduate California population.

The number of out-of-state and international students continued to decline, reaching 37,352 – or 15.8% – of undergraduate students, down more than a percentage point from Fall 2023.

In recent years, UC has faced calls to provide extra seats to the people of California. It began adding more out-of-state students, who pay higher tuition, after funding was cut during the Great Recession. For the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, it responded to criticism by enrolling thousands of California undergraduates. Leaders have expressed intentions to continue adding about 3,000 California students each year through 2026-27 under an “agreement” with the governor’s office.

Ethnic diversity

Across all UC campuses, the number of multiracial and ethnic undergraduates has grown. Asian Americans make up the largest group with less than 36.3% of students. Latinos were second, growing to represent 26.7% across the board; white students decreased slightly by 19.8%. Black students made up 4.8% of enrolled students, a number that increased by 494 to 11,257. The share of Native Americans rose slightly to 0.6% while the Pacific Islander share remained about the same at 0.2%.

Racial and ethnic groups for first-year classes and transfer students showed increases among Asian American, Black and Native American students. The number of Latino first-year and transfer students fell slightly — 19,504 to 19,418 — as did white students, from 14,305 to 14,172.

The increase in black freshman enrollment — first-year and transfer students to 3,532, from 3,412 — is notable as it contrasts with the trend seen at many of America’s elite campuses, where the number of black first-year students has declined after the Supreme Court ruling. in 2023 that act to guarantee college admission was unconstitutional.

US students who enrolled last fall are the first to be affected by the decision, which is relevant only to a small number of highly selective American universities where admission is highly competitive.

Because UC’s two most selective campuses, UCLA and Berkeley, often compete with private and public universities, their admissions policies and prices are often comparable.

At Berkeley, with an admissions rate of 11%, Black freshmen increased by seven in the fall to 400, or 4.4% of its class. Asian American students enrolled 17 to 3,698, or 41.1% of the first year. Latino students fell by 55 to 1,971, although their class share grew to 21.9%.

According to the latest data, UCLA enrolled 33 more new Black students in 2024 compared to the previous year, for a total of 717, or 6.9% of first-year and transfer enrollment. The Asian American population grew by 37 to 3,523, representing 33.7% of new arrivals. At 2,584, Latinos increased by 96 students and made up 24.7% of first-year and transfer students. UCLA had an acceptance rate of 9%.

Of the 37 top US universities and colleges that submitted enrollment data for 2024, 30 said there were declines in black students and 23 saw declines in Latino students, according to the nonprofit education group’s tracker. Education Reform Now.

The number of black students enrolled at Johns Hopkins University decreased by 66.1% while Latinos decreased by 51.2% last fall compared to the average of two years ago. The same groups declined at MIT by 64.3% and 26.7%, respectively, and at Stanford by 37.5% and 11.8%, over the same periods.

Black student enrollment also declined at Pomona College, USC and Harvard while Latino enrollment increased. At Yale and Northwestern, enrollment of black and Latino students increased in new classes last fall.

Pell Grants

Tuesday’s data also showed a second-year increase in the number of low-income students at UC. Students receiving Federal Pell Grants have declined for several years through 2023. By 2024, an additional 7,180 students received funding for a total of 85,772 across the program.

Pell Grants do not have to be repaid and are awarded to students from low-income families or the ability to pay for college. For 2024-25, the maximum Pell Grant is $7,395.

Han Mi Yoon-Wu, deputy vice president of Systemwide Undergraduate Admissions, said in a statement that enrollment data shows that there are many ways to get a place at UC.

“Students following these numbers come from all over California and are proof that there are many paths to a UC education,” she said. “The University of California is committed to making UC accessible to the best students.”