The University of California recognizes record-breaking Californians. Ethnic diversity is still strong
UC acknowledges its fall 2025 UC undergraduate largest undergraduate student, while also maintaining a diverse student body and increasing the number of first-generation students in the family to attend college, according to preliminary data released Monday.
The University of California also offers 17% admissions to international undergraduates, the group is under scrutiny by the Trump administration and has added scrutiny and visa delays.
Strategies to boost international students acknowledge that the University of California raised non-resident tuition fees last year, and the White House action could mean fewer foreigners will decide to study in the United States in the fall. The larger admission offer is designed to capture a group of students who will enroll and bring value for international diversity in UC and to increase the vault with full-price tuition paid by non-California residents.
Overall, the University of California recognizes 100,947 California students, an increase of more than 7% from last year. The figure represents the largest class in the U.S. Prime Minister’s public university system, as leaders address the requirement of public demands to provide more seats to Californians—although higher tuition fees are charged to out-of-state students during tough budgets.
UC is discussing recruitment freezes, layoffs, deferred state funding, structural deficits at the campus level, potentially expensive union contract negotiations, and discussions on increased tuition fees. Billions of dollars in federal grants have been questioned in the Trump administration’s support and multiple federal investigations, and multiple investigations have been conducted to investigate allegations of anti-Semitism, the use of race in enrollment and foreign funding sources.
System-wide enrollment rates for first-year California students (even competitive campuses like UCLA and Berkeley) rose to 77% from 70% last year. Overall, UC offers seats for 180,382 first-year students and offers transfer students from California and other states and countries.
At UCLA, the most applicable universities in the United States, the rate of acceptance rate is roughly the same at 9%. UCLA offers admission to 8,575 first-year California applicants in the fall of 2025, down more than 200 students last year. Like in previous years, this number represents the smallest offer on the UC campus.
Monday’s data focus only on admitted students, not those who end up accepting quotes and registrations. Therefore, the numbers are higher than campus capabilities.
“We continue to experience significant growth, which clearly shows that Californians recognize the value of UC degrees,” said Michael V. Drake, outgoing UC president. “Our latest admission numbers show that families in our state recognize that UC degrees provide students with meaningful contributions throughout their lives in the community and far beyond their reach.”
Doctor Drake will leave his role in the end of July to return to research and teaching. James B. Milliken, former president of the University of Texas, will replace him.
“It has created avenues for UC education for many top students in California, which not only benefits these students, but also benefits the entire country,” said Han Mi Yoon-wu, deputy provost and executive director of undergraduate admissions at UC. “We are honored to provide a place for these outstanding young people at the University of California.”
Ethnic diversity continues to rise
The data released Monday continued for years on UC trends to increase racial diversity, first-generation students, students from low-income families, and transfers from California Community College.
In recent years, the UC touts the racial and racial combination of its admitted students is a better reflection of California’s demographics—even if diversity programs across the country have been under political and legal attacks, and the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that affirmative action in university recognition is unconstitutional.
In California, Proposition 209, approved by voters in 1997, prohibits the consideration of race to participate in public education institutions. Over the years, UC has begun recruiting students of all kinds and has carried out two major reforms in the early 2000s. People focus on admission guarantees for students who perform well in statewide and most California high schools. Others also use a comprehensive review process to evaluate applicants, including special talents, student comparisons with peers in high school, and geographical location, and grades and course work.
This year, the University of California’s messaging about admissions has become quieter as the Trump administration criticized campus diversity programs. A press release on admission data does not refer to the racial composition of admitted students, although racial data over the past few years are included in the detailed admission form.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration said it was investigating UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Irving’s use of “illegal DEIs” in admissions and suggested that the system’s teacher diversity goals constitute racially-based hiring discrimination. The Justice Department has zeroed in on the UC 2030 Capacity Program, which lists aspirations to increase the diversity of graduate students and faculty, including the addition of 1,100 tenured faculty.
The University of California (UC) actively defends its admission practices and says it complies with state and federal laws.
Admissions for all ethnic groups increased Monday’s UC data showed: Black, Latino, Native American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, White and “Unknown.” Even though the applicants’ total pool fell slightly (less than 1%) to 249,824, the growth occurred.
Latinos are the largest first-year California students for the sixth consecutive year, mainly because of the large number of people they are accepted by UC Merced and UC Riverside.
Asian Americans are the primary admissions group on the other seven undergraduate campuses.
Overall, Latinos make up 39% of first-year Californians, followed by Asian Americans, with 33%, with 18% of white students, 6% of black students, about 1% of Native Americans (or 604), and less than 1% of Pacific Islanders and 294 Pacific Islanders.
As last year, women acknowledge that men outperform men after the national trend in higher education. Throughout the UC campus, 54% of the fall are female and 42% are male. Additionally, 1% are non-binary, each trans men or women, each transgender or unknown gender identity. UC Berkeley and UC Berkeley and Davis have the largest gender gap in 57% of their acknowledgement as women.
While UC’s overall enrollment data shows that the number of students offering slot machines increases, campus data varies greatly.
Merced and Riverside receive the most students
Most campuses only add admission fees to several hundred or thousands of students. Much of the growth in hospital admissions was dominated by UC Merced and UC Riverside.
At UC’s latest campus Merced, the overall enrollment rate increased by 60% to 50,662 from 31,585 last year. At Riverside, enrollment rose from 51,345 to 71,069.
Yoon-wu said in an interview that the addition reflects the target recruitment of these campuses.
“One of the changes this year is to focus on students who may not be familiar with both campuses and join them as applicants as early as possible,” she said.
Merced’s application growth this year was the biggest, up 45% to 51,745. The second largest growth was in Riverside, which jumped 18% to 82,904.
Both campuses have been expanding and are not facing restrictions on certain high-profile UCSs that are surrounded by dense urban areas with relatively high housing costs such as UCLA and UC Berkeley.
Riverside, which is undergoing housing expansion, aims to recruit 35,000 students by 2035, an increase of about 9,000 students from last fall. Merced’s enrollment target is 15,000 by 2030, an increase of about 6,000 from last fall.
Merced and Riverside campuses also have the highest enrollment rates in UC and are the most diverse in terms of competition, first-generation status and student income levels.
Additionally, the rate of return on campus is also low – the percentage of students who choose to enroll. At Merced, the rate of return for first-year students last year was 7%. In Riverside, 12%.
Systemically, the number of low-income students and the number of first college students in the family is relatively stable. Low-income students account for 42% of first-year California classes, an increase of 1% from last year. First-generation students also accounted for 42%, down 1%.
The system brings benefits in expanding access to California Community College transfer applicants. Its admission fee is 27,845 – a 5.9% increase from last year.
Out-of-state and international acceptance growth
After UC began cutting funds during the Great Depression, it began adding more out-of-state students who paid higher tuition fees. In recent years, it has steadily increased enrollment and enrollment rates in California amid public pressures and national budget transactions.
The latest admission data shows that 2,150 first-year admission quotes have increased to 26,191 (a 9% increase) and these students are residents of other states. Meanwhile, there are 3,263 seats in international first-year students, an increase of 17% from last year.
Both figures are higher due to “increased uncertainty about the likelihood of admission,” the University of California (UC) said, noting that the share of recognized students in the selected group is often “much lower” than that of California residents.
Yoon-wu said there are some “many factors” that cause the system to want larger non-resident acceptance. She noted that the cost of non-Californians at UC rises. Last fall, the “non-resident” tuition approved by the UC Board of Trustees increased from $34,200 to $37,602.
“This year, there is more uncertainty about the perception of higher education,” Yoonwu said, adding that changes in the Trump administration are “absolutely” a factor in students’ thinking. “Luckily for the University of California, we have proven that getting a degree from UC is a valuable decision.”
