The University of California (UC) system admitted its largest, most diverse class of Californians this year, according to preliminary data. Notably, for the first time, the system welcomed a higher percentage of Latinx prospective students than White students from the state.
The nearly 80,000 California students admitted, a record high, is 36% Latinx, 35% Asian, 21% White and 5% Black. In total, the campuses extended 16% more offers to California’s underrepresented students than last year.
Some campuses, like UC Berkeley, took the lead. The campus admitted 200 more Black freshmen than last year, a total of 737, the highest number of Black students admitted since the late 1980s. Meanwhile, it increased its Latinx admits to 3,379 students, also the most in at least 40 years.
In a statement, UC system president Janet Napolitano called this incoming class “one of our most talented and diverse yet.”
But how did this class come to be? What strategies did campus leaders use to boost underrepresented admissions?
UC Berkeley did a major overhaul of its admissions process since the summer of last year, according to Olufemi Ogundele, UC Berkeley’s assistant vice chancellor and director of undergraduate admissions.
First of all, it changed the tone of its marketing, attracting more diverse applicants.
