UC Enrolls More California Residents

BERKELEY, CA —The University of California increased enrollment of undergraduates who are California residents by 3,910 students in fall 2024, a 2% rise over fall 2023, according to data the system released Tuesday. That was despite a small decline in the number of new California freshmen.

In total, the system enrolled 198,718 California undergraduates, a new record. The increase was due to a 4.4% jump in the number of Californians transferring from a community college and the many returning sophomore, junior and senior students. The number of new first-year students from California declined by 158 students, or about 0.4%.

Meanwhile, the number of out-of-state and international students declined by 1,112 or about 2.9%, continuing a trend in recent years.

State lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom have demanded that UC increase enrollment of California residents and decrease the number of students from other states and countries. As part of what he labeled a multiyear compact, Newsom has tied budget increases for UC to the system increasing enrollment of Californians, among other goals like improving graduation rates.

UC in the fall also saw enrollment of Pell Grant recipients increase by over 9% compared with fall 2023 and increased the number of Black students by 4.6%, Native American students by 12.9% and Latino students by 3.1%.

Among domestic students, Asian students comprised the largest share of any ethnic group, making up 36.3% of UC undergraduates. Hispanic and Latino students comprised 26.7%; white students, 19.7%; Black students, 4.7%; and Native Americans or Native Hawaiians, 0.8%. Another 2.5% students were categorized as an unknown ethnicity and nearly 9% were identified as international.

UC's 236,070 students are enrolled across nine undergrad-serving campuses. The five largest — Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles and San Diego — each enrolled between 30,000 and 35,000 undergraduates. The smallest, Merced, enrolled 8,372.

"The students behind these numbers come from all corners of California and are proof that there are many paths to a UC education," Han Mi Yoon-Wu, UC's associate vice provost for undergraduate admission, said in a statement. "The University of California is committed to making UC accessible to the best students. Our efforts are guided by the university's compact with the governor, and we are grateful for the ongoing support of the state Legislature in helping us fulfill this promise."

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