The University of California, or UC, admitted a record number of California resident first-year students for the upcoming fall term, offering a spot to 93,920 of them, the university system announced Wednesday.

UC also made more admission offers to community college transfer students and to low-income students. Latino students were the largest demographic group of admitted first-year students, while UC also slightly increased offers to Black students.

But just because the students were accepted doesn’t mean they will ultimately attend UC. The numbers released Wednesday do not indicate how many students paid their deposits and told UC they intended to enroll. Enrollment data won’t be available until after the fall term — typically in January.

Still, UC President Michael Drake said in a statement that the admission numbers “demonstrate the University of California’s commitment to expanding opportunity and access” for all students.

“We’re setting more California students on the path to a college degree and future success, and that translates to a positive impact on communities throughout the state,” Drake said.

The Shift in UC Admission Demographics

Latino students represented the largest share of California first-year admits, accounting for 38.6% of them, up from 37.7% last year. UC also made admission offers to about 500 more Black students than it did for fall 2023.

In total, UC admitted 166,706 students for fall 2024, its largest ever class of admitted students. That includes 137,200 first-year students and 29,506 transfer students.

The 93,920 admission offers to California resident first-year students represents a 4.3% increase from last year.

Latino students in fall 2023 accounted for 26% of UC’s undergraduate population — much less than the share of Latino students in California high schools, where they make up more than half the student population. Black students made up 4.6% of the UC undergraduate population in fall 2023. The largest demographic group was Asian students, accounting for 36%, while white students accounted for about 20%.

Although UC is aware of the race of applicants, the system is not allowed to consider race as a factor in admissions due to Proposition 209, a 1996 ballot measure banning the use of race in admissions at California public colleges.

Read the full article about UC admissions by Michael Burke at EdSource.