UC System’s Admissions Milestone for Asian Americans

For the first time, Asian Americans are the dominant group being offered freshman admission this coming fall to the University of California’s 10 undergraduate campuses, UC officials announced.

Until now, the largest racial group of accepted students systemwide was always white.

That’s not true at the flagship UC Berkeley campus. Asians have been the largest group there since 1993, said Richard Black, associate vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment.

Officials said the systemwide change is a reflection of population trends throughout California, as well as Asian American applicants’ disproportionate success in meeting UC admission standards.

Asian Americans make up 36 percent of the record 55,242 freshmen admitted for the fall term, compared with 35.6 percent for whites, according to figures released by the UC president’s office.

Factors behind the shift include higher numbers of Asian high school students, the growing number of Asian American public high school students who apply to UC, and the high eligibility of Asian American students based on high school coursework and test scores.

Underrepresented students — African Americans, American Indians and Chicano/Latinos — make up 21.7 percent of the new freshman class statewide, compared with 20.6 percent last year.

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