Record Latino Applications for University of California System a Step in Right Direction, Say Experts

Education experts say the recent record number of 2022 applications to the University of California system — the highest in its 154-year history — points to progress in increasing the representation of students, addressing the need to boost enrollment of Latinos and other students of color.

Chicano and Latino students were the largest ethnic group of freshman applicants for the third year in a row, at 38.1 percent, a 4.1 percent increase over the previous year, according to a recent University of California report.

Applications from Black students increased by 2.8 percent over the past year, while those from Asian American students increased by 5.8 percent.

“It’s getting better, but we have a long way to go,” said Lisa García Bedolla, the University of California, Berkeley’s vice provost for graduate studies and a professor in the Graduate School of Education.

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“We’ve been much more intentional about reaching out to certain parts of the state where we aren’t getting applicants,” Bedolla said, but “which tend to be the most diverse.”

Removing the SAT and ACT requirement from the application process has also boosted the number of applicants, Bedolla said.

The UC system unanimously voted in May 2020 to suspend SAT and ACT standardized tests through 2024, and it plans to eliminate them for California students by 2025.

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According to an analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle, while Latinos represented almost half of all Californians ages 18 to 24 — 49 percent — they accounted for 25 percent of the overall 2021 UC freshman class.

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