4.1% Fewer Freshmen Apply to UC

For the first time in more than a decade, the number of high school seniors applying to the University of California declined this year, a drop university officials attributed in part to increased student fees and toughened immigration policies for foreign students.

Overall, the number of freshman applicants for the fall of 2004 fell 4.1% from last year, a trend fueled by an 18.2% decrease among international students, according to statistics released Tuesday. A total of 73,794 applied.

Applications from students transferring from other colleges reached record levels this year, up 5.7% from last year, but transfer applications from out-of-state and international students declined.

The drop-off was most dramatic among international transfers -- more than 56%.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the United States has tightened immigration policies, making it tougher for foreign students and scholars to receive visas to study or work at U.S. colleges and universities. UC officials said they think those restrictions -- along with recent fee increases by the university -- were the most likely reason for the sharp decline in foreign student applications.

In the last 13 months, UC students, both graduate and undergraduate, also have been hit with fee hikes averaging about 40%. The recent budget proposals by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recommended further increases, of about 10% for undergraduate students for the 2004-05 school year and up to 40% for graduate students.

All undergraduate students now pay systemwide fees totaling $4,984, in addition to miscellaneous campus fees. But those who are not California residents also pay out-of-state tuition, bringing the total average tuition and fees to $19,740 this year for nonresident undergraduates and $19,333 for nonresident graduate students

A university spokeswoman said another factor in the decline in freshman applications may be a population anomaly this year. Amid what analysts project to be a decade-long surge in college age students nationwide, the number of California high school graduates this year is expected to rise less than 1% from last year. That rate would be smaller than in the years both before and after, according to statistics from the state Department of Finance.

But UC spokeswoman Lavonne Luquis said the smaller application numbers are not without some benefit. With the UC -- and the California State University system -- being asked in the governor’s proposed budget to enroll 10% fewer freshmen this fall, a smaller application pool may ease some of the pressure on the public universities and leave fewer students disappointed.

“We have never welcomed any decrease in applications, but given the budget this year, a slight reduction may actually help,” Luquis said.

Luquis said the university and community colleges have been actively encouraging students to pursue transfers; thus the rise in applications.

Across the UC system, all eight undergraduate campuses, with the exception of UC Santa Cruz, saw declines in the number of freshman applications. The decreases ranged from a negligible 0.7% at UC Berkeley, the university’s oldest and often most competitive campus, to 7.5% at UC Riverside, the least competitive. Santa Cruz, one of the system’s smaller campuses, had a 7.4% increase.

UCLA, which in recent years has been both the UC system’s and the nation’s most popular campus, received 42,916 applications for freshman admission for the fall, a decline of 3.2%.

Systemwide, fewer African American and white students applied for freshman admission this year, with declines of 7% and 3.2%, respectively. Applications were up nearly 2% among Asian American students and held virtually steady for those of Latino background.

UC officials said cuts last year to the university’s college preparatory and outreach programs aimed at disadvantaged students may have played a role in the smaller numbers of black applicants. But they said analysis of the issue is not yet complete.

Funding for the outreach programs is all but eliminated in the governor’s proposed budget for the coming year, but UC administrators say they hope to save at least a portion of the funds.

The data released Tuesday also indicated this year’s freshmen applicants might be better prepared academically than last year’s applicants.

Although the university in recent years has de-emphasized the role of the SAT college entrance exam in its admissions, the average score on the test for freshman applicants systemwide rose to 1171 this year, up from 1163 last year. The average SAT score among UCLA applicants this year was 1205; at UC Berkeley, it was 1231. A perfect score is 1600.

The high school grade-point average among applicants also rose this year, to 3.66 on a 4-point scale -- up from 3.64 last year. For UCLA applicants, it was 3.75; at UC Berkeley, it was 3.79.