UC Admits Record Number of Community College Students

The University of California announced Thursday that it has accepted a record number of community college transfer students for the fall, with significant increases in the numbers of Latino and African American transfers admitted.

Across its eight undergraduate campuses, the university admitted 12,221 California transfer students, a 9.1% gain over last year, according to annual transfer admission figures. The increase, which comes alongside a 10.4% gain in freshman admissions for the fall, is part of an anticipated decadelong boost for the university as children of the baby boom generation head off to college.

Throughout the UC system, the figures for Latino, African American and American Indian transfer students admitted for the fall were up 17.9% from last year and more than 27% from 1997, the last year the university considered race or ethnicity in admissions.

At one campus, however--UC Berkeley--the number of transfers among such underrepresented minority groups remained lower than in 1997. And at UCLA, which showed increases in transfers for all other categories, the figure for African Americans remained flat this year, as it has since 1997.

The two campuses are the most competitive in the UC system.

Overall, though, the systemwide transfer figures were viewed as positive by UC and community college officials who have cooperated in recent years to encourage more community college students to enter the UC system.

“This is really the best news we’ve had on transfers for a long time,” said Christopher Cabaldon, the California community college system’s vice chancellor for policy and planning.

The year’s increases are expected to be the beginning of a trend in growing numbers of transfers to UC, Cabaldon said.

In a “partnership agreement” with Gov. Gray Davis last year, the elite university system agreed to try to increase its enrollment from the state’s community colleges by 6% annually through 2005.

“This helps us a great deal in moving toward our goal,” said Dennis Galligani, UC’s associate vice president for student academic services. “We’re delighted with these increases.”

Galligani and Cabaldon said the gains largely resulted from better cooperation between the state’s most prestigious educational system and its most accessible.

The UC and the community college systems have launched a number of efforts, from outreach programs to admission agreements that guarantee entry to students who earn a certain grade point average in their community college courses.

One reason for the interest is that the transfers have long been seen as a way to bring increased ethnic diversity to UC. The state’s 108 community colleges have a large number of underrepresented minority students.

Overall, the numbers for such students were up systemwide in Thursday’s transfer figures. And individually, each UC campus saw an increase in the number of underrepresented minority transfers admitted since last year.

But UC Berkeley experienced a drop of nearly 20% from 1997 in the number of Latino, African American and American Indian students admitted as transfers. And UCLA’s figures for African American transfers were down slightly--by four students--since 1997.

“Overall, the results are positive, but clearly, we’re disappointed in the numbers for African Americans,” said Thomas Lifka, UCLA’s assistant vice chancellor of student academic services.

In the future, a proposal by UC President Richard Atkinson may offer yet another path for community college students.

That proposal, known as “dual admissions,” would guarantee UC admission to qualified high school students who first complete a transfer program at a community college.

It has been approved by UC faculty and is expected to be taken up by regents at their July meeting.

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Community College Transfers

The number of California community college transfer students admitted to the University of California system is at a record level, with 12,221 transfers accepted for the fall. The university also reports significant gains in the numbers of Latino, African American and American Indian transfer students accepted, up 17.9% systemwide from last year. These are figures for the system as a whole and for its two most selective campuses:

UC SYSTEMWIDE*

*--*

‘97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 African American 316 248 285 306 348 American Indian 102 101 95 61 113 Asian American 3,075 2,610 2,850 2,949 3,265 Latino 1,420 1,393 1,516 1,622 1,884 White/Other 5,161 4,344 5,319 5,342 5,522 Declined to state** 550 1,634 936 922 1,089 Total 10,624 10,330 11,001 11,202 12,221

*--*

*

UC BERKELEY

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‘97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 African American 104 53 58 57 74 American Indian 30 15 10 10 22 Asian American 623 544 592 543 599 Latino 275 192 214 177 233 White/Other 845 728 804 739 823 Declined to state** 106 306 186 184 214 Total 1,983 1,838 1,864 1,710 1,965

*--*

*

UCLA

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‘97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 African American 91 81 96 85 87 American Indian 19 13 22 15 27 Asian American 873 782 884 920 1,023 Latino 474 354 481 501 559 White/Other 1,042 909 1,293 1,230 1,349 Declined to state** 135 384 232 246 262 Total 2,634 2,523 3,008 2,997 3,307

*--*

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* Admissions totals for eight undergraduate campuses: UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside.

*

** Declined to state include students who did not provide information on their ethnic identity in the admission application.

*

Source: University of California

Compiled by MALOY MOORE / Los Angeles Times