The University of California today (August 8) announced that it has admitted a record number of California freshmen to its incoming class of undergraduate students and its largest class of underrepresented freshmen in the system’s history for fall 2023, a total of 88,285 California freshmen. This represents an increase of 3.5 percent (3,017) over fall 2022 admissions numbers. Overall, the University accepted 157,446 applicants (129,685 freshmen and 27,761 transfer students).
These numbers demonstrate the continued interest undergraduate students have in attending a UC campus and their recognition of the benefits of a UC education in supporting their economic mobility, in addition to its relative affordability in comparison to other institutions. At the University, 55 percent of California undergraduates pay no tuition to attend.
“The University’s latest admissions data reflects our commitment to expanding opportunity and to ensuring that students of all backgrounds have a chance to attend one of our excellent undergraduate campuses,” said UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D. “We’re pleased to support thousands more Californians who wish to pursue a higher education, benefitting themselves and communities across the state.”
The University’s admitted class of freshman undergraduates includes the largest number of underrepresented students in the system’s history, with Chicano/Latino students still the largest underrepresented group at 37.6 percent. Additionally, the University continues to see progress in admitting American Indian students in large measure due to its Native American Opportunity Plan. The proportion of admitted American Indian students is at 0.7 percent, with admission offers to this applicant population increasing by 11.6 percent over 2022. Meanwhile, Asian American admits are at 34.2 percent; white students comprise 19.1 percent of the incoming freshman admit class; and African American students make up 5.5 percent of admits.
In total, the number of freshman admits from underrepresented groups increased by 1,494 students, or 4 percent, over 2022 data. Additionally, the socioeconomic profile of admitted California freshman undergraduates remained relatively flat compared to 2022 admission data, with 44 percent being first-generation college students and 45 percent of admitted students reporting low family incomes.
Following last year’s decline in admission offers to domestic nonresidents and international students, admission offers to domestic nonresidents increased by 3.9 percent over last year and offers to international students increased by 1 percent over 2022. Domestic nonresident admissions had declined by 19 percent and international student admissions by 12.2 percent between 2021 and 2022.
“The University of California continues to set an example for our peer private and public institutions as we strive to recruit talented and diverse students from around the state,” said Han Mi Yoon-Wu, executive director of Undergraduate Admissions at the UC Office of the President. “Our campuses are committed to ensuring that applicants of all backgrounds have equal access to the path to enrollment — and we are especially proud that this freshman class includes the largest number of Californians in history.”
Admission offers to California Community College (CCC) students contracted slightly compared to 2022 numbers, given pandemic-induced enrollment declines across the community college system over the last few years. For the 2023 class, the University admitted 24,729 students from California Community Colleges. While the number of students admitted declined, the University’s admission rate increased to 77.5 percent this year from 75.7 percent last year due in part to the larger decline in the number of applications received from CCC transfer applicants this past year.
The demographic breakdown of domestic CCC admits from underrepresented groups also declined slightly from 37.3 percent of admitted students in 2022 to 36.7 percent. Asian American students made up the largest proportion of CCC transfers at 31.5 percent; African American and American Indian students increased to 5.6 percent and 0.9 percent of admitted students. Chicano/Latino admits declined slightly to 29.9 percent this year; white students decreased slightly to 29.4 percent.
CCC admits to the University continue to have strong socioeconomic diversity with first-generation college students comprising 48 percent of the admitted class and admitted students from low-income family backgrounds at 53 percent.
Additional details and raw admissions numbers for the University of California’s fall 2023 admitted class can be found here, along with preliminary campus-by-campus breakdowns. Questions on campus-level data should be directed to our undergraduate locations at the contacts listed here. Additional inquiries on systemwide data can be sent to media@ucop.edu.