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The University of California said Wednesday it offered admission to a record 102,000 California residents and about 29,400 California community college transfers, even as the system faces fresh federal scrutiny over how it handles admissions.
UC officials said the number of California residents offered seats is about 1,400 more than last year, marking the largest in-state admissions offer in the system’s history.
The transfer figure is also a record and reflects UC’s continued push to expand access for students coming from community colleges, which remains a major pathway into the system for California residents, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The admissions totals come as UC continues to operate under a multiyear compact with state lawmakers that calls for the system to increase enrollment of in-state students by 1% each year and make transfers easier for community college students.
In exchange, the state has committed to increasing funding to help offset the loss of revenue from enrolling fewer out-of-state students, according to UC’s account of the agreement. UC officials said the system is on track to meet those goals.
The announcement also arrives during a period of heightened controversy over admissions practices at UC schools, the University of California reported.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department opened an investigation into UCLA over allegations that it used race in admissions, and this month, federal officials said UC San Diego’s medical school favored Black and Hispanic applicants, allegations the school said it was reviewing.
UC has denied using affirmative action in admissions, saying it collects race and ethnicity data for statistical purposes only and does not share that information with application reviewers.
UC officials also said the incoming class reflects broad access across the state. UCLA offered seats to 57% of California resident applicants, UC Irvine offered 52%, and UC Riverside offered 87%, according to the system’s announcement. At UCLA, about 2,500 admitted California students are first-generation college students.
Admissions patterns reported by UC showed that about 6% of California students offered admission identified as Black, around 38% identified as Latino, 18% as white, and 33% as Asian. UC said those figures were broadly consistent with California’s demographics, as per Reuters.
