More Latino Than White Students Admitted to UC

More Latino than white students in California have been offered admission to the state's premier public universities for the first time, officials said Friday, a milestone that reflects the diverse racial makeup of a state where Latino children represent a majority of students in public schools.

Preliminary admissions data show that 17,589 Latino students have been accepted as freshmen at one of the University of California's nine undergraduate campuses for the fall, or 29 percent of all 61,120 in-state applicants who were offered a spot. That compares to 16,378 white residents, who made up 27 percent of the admitted applicants.

Asian Americans were still largest single ethnic group represented in the freshman class pool, making up 36 percent of all Californians admitted. Black students received 4 percent of the admission offers.

University officials said that competition to get into a UC school remained stiff, a situation they tried to address by making room for more students. A record 86,865 students from California, out-of-state and abroad were accepted, or 59 percent of all 148,688 applicants. By comparison, the system had a 68 percent acceptance rate for Fall 2011, and the new numbers are a sign of how much more difficult winning a spot has become.

Of the ones who got lucky in the admissions lottery this year, 25,745 _ 30 percent of the accepted freshmen _ are from out-of-state or are international students. The percentage of students who were not from California has risen steadily in recent years as officials have tried to offset cuts in state funding with the higher tuition nonresidents pay. So while the number of admissions rose overall this year by 4,015, 2,984 of those offers went to non-Californians.

Even though the system has stepped up recruitment of students from outside the state, 61,120 Californians - 1,031 more than last year - still gained admission to a UC school.

"We are honored to extend admissions offers to this accomplished and diverse group of applicants to the University of California,'' Stephen Handel, UC's associate vice president for undergraduate admissions said.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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