BERKELEY >> After rising last year, the number of in-state freshmen admitted to the University of California for the fall of 2017 has dropped 1.7 percent from last year, according to data released by the system’s central office today.
About 70,000 freshmen and 21,000 transfer students from California have been offered a spot at one of UC’s nine campuses, and UC is on pace to meet its goal of adding 10,000 more Californians to the system by the 2018-19 school year. About 25 percent are from the Bay Area.
Overall, the system’s admission rate for California students is 62.6 percent and about 54 percent for out-of-state students. At Berkeley, the admission rate for in-state residents was 19.7 percent, slightly below the 22.1 percent admission rate for out-of-state students. UCLA had the lowest admission rate of 14.6 percent for California residents, significantly below its 23.3 admission rate for out-of-state residents.
“We welcome this accomplished, talented group of applicants to the university,” UC President Janet Napolitano said in a statement. “All of us — in California and throughout the nation and world — will be enriched by their talent, curiosity and drive to learn and succeed.”
The proportion of Californians from historically underrepresented groups and low-income families has also increased slightly, from 37.8 percent last year to 38.7 percent this year. Latinos make up about a third of admitted California freshmen, yet African-Americans make up just 5 percent. Berkeley admitted 375 African-American students, down 26 from last year.
Nearly 40 percent of California freshmen admitted come from low-income families, and 43 percent will be the first in their families to go to college.
