Fewer Californians Admitted to UCSB This Year

With a record high number of applicants, UCSB admitted about 1,260 fewer students this fall than it did last year. According to data released last week, the university offered a spot to 23,074 students. Of those, 17,485 are from California, an eight percent decrease from last year. The number of international students accepted decreased to 2,748, a four percent drop. However, out-of-state students admitted increased to 2,841, a 15 percent jump.

UCSB administrators anticipate about 4,380 freshmen will show up to campus this school year, a couple hundred fewer than last year’s freshman class. The reason for the decrease in target enrollment, said university spokesperson George Foulsham, is because fewer university students are leaving before graduation. He noted that this retention is happening for a number of reasons, including the ever-improving academic quality of the university. Plus, services on campus such as tutoring, counseling, and the summer educational opportunity program are beneficial, he said, and are especially valuable for first-generation students.

Of the admitted applicants, the average high school grade point average is 4.19 — an all time high — and a SAT score of 1,975 out of 2,400. Nearly a quarter of those admitted are minority group members. In January, UCSB was designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) as Latinos make up 27 percent of its undergrad population. Five years ago, Latinos made up 22.5 percent of undergraduate enrollment, according to the state’s Postsecondary Education Commission.

Over the next decade, UCSB will increase by 5,000 undergrads and hundreds of graduate students, along with the faculty, staff, and the housing to accommodate them.