BACKGROUND BRIEFING UC Santa Barbara Receives 54,758 Applications From Prospective Freshmen and Transfer Students

The University of California, Santa Barbara has received 54,758 applications for undergraduate admission to the campus for fall 2009. The overall total is 1,113 fewer than last year, although the number of transfer applications is up.

Of the total:

• 44,673 applications were from prospective first-year students –– 2,352 fewer than last year.

• 10,085 were from applicants seeking to transfer to UCSB –– 1,239 more than last year.

The UC Office of the President today posted statistics on undergraduate applications to all UC campuses on its Web site at this address:

http://www.ucop.edu/news/studstaff.html.

UC Santa Barbara was one of four campuses in the UC system to see application numbers from prospective first-year students decline this year, although transfer applications have increased at all UC campuses –– 14 percent at UCSB. Admissions officials say the slight dip in applications for the freshman class appears, at least in part, to be a reflection of the challenging economic climate.

"The economy and concerns related to it clearly have had an impact on the college-going plans of many young people, with more students deciding to stay closer to home and more possibly thinking about community college first," said UCSB Admissions Director Christine Van Gieson. "We know that we have seen some of that in our application numbers this year.

"But we also know that students recognize the academic excellence of UC Santa Barbara and its programs, which is why we have seen applications more than double over the past decade. We always try to look at more than one year at a time –– and we have 6,000 more applicants this year than we did two years ago," she said.

Van Gieson added that the substantial increase in transfer applications was notable. "We have worked to increase our engagement with California's community colleges and their students, and this increase in applications shows that those efforts are succeeding," she said.

UCSB has a target enrollment of 4,100 first-year students for next fall and 1,700 transfer students. These enrollment targets reflect a recent budget-driven decision by the UC Board of Regents to curtail freshman enrollment for next fall and increase the number of transfer students. (UCSB was directed to enroll 275 fewer freshmen than it had originally planned and enroll 100 more transfer students.) Decisions on freshman applications will be made by mid-March, and on transfer applications the following month.

Applicants for the Fall 2009 Freshman Class

• The total number of applications received by UCSB for the freshman class is 2,352 fewer than last year, a decrease of 5 percent. Four campuses in the UC system experienced decreases in applications from prospective first-year students this year. Over all, freshman applications to the UC system increased 2.9 percent. The system saw increases from California residents, out-of-state applicants, and international students.
• Over the past two years, freshman applications to UC campuses have increased by 12.4 percent. At UCSB over the same period, applications have increased 9.2 percent.
• Of the 98,002 prospective freshmen applying to one or more UC campuses this year, close to half of them (45.6 percent) included UCSB among the campuses to which they applied.
• Californians account for 91 percent of UCSB's undergraduate applicant pool.

Academic Quality of Prospective Freshmen

• The academic quality of UCSB's applicant pool, as measured by grades and test scores, remains strong.
• Of the 44,673 applicants for the entering class, 13,655, or 31 percent, have a high-school Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.0 or higher.
• The average GPA of all freshman applicants is 3.71, identical to last year's record level.

The SAT exam was changed substantially for students applying to enroll in fall 2006 or later. Applicants now take the SAT Reasoning Test, which is made up of three sections: Reading, Mathematics, and Writing (as opposed to two sections, Math and Verbal, in the past). The average total score on the required SATR Test was 1739 out of a possible 2400, down 5 points from last year. The averages for the component parts were:

SATR Math: 596

SATR Reading: 569

SATR Writing: 575

Diversity of Applicants for the Fall 2009 Freshman Class

• Over all, applications from members of underrepresented minority groups were up. UCSB received a total of 12,143 freshman applications from African-American, American-Indian, and Chicano and Latino applicants, 187 more than last year, a 1.5 percent increase. This total represents 27.2 percent of the applicant pool (vs. 25.4 percent the previous year).
• 53.7 percent of all applicants for the UCSB freshman class are members of a racial or ethnic minority group. (Individual applicants to UC are not identified to the campuses by race or ethnicity until all admissions decisions have been made.)

Transfer Applicants

• The vast majority (9,016, or 89.4 percent) of the 10,085 applicants seeking to transfer to UCSB are enrolled in a California community college.
• The total number of transfer applications was 1,239 more than last year, an increase of 14 percent. All nine UC undergraduate campuses saw an increase in transfer applications.
• Of the 9,016 transfer applications from California community college students, 1,969 or 21.8 percent were from members of underrepresented minority groups, an increase of 367 such applicants over last year.
• Over the past two years, transfer applications to all UC campuses increased 20.7 percent; at UCSB, the increase over that same period was 28.7 percent.