A New Record

Continuing a decades-long trend, UC Santa Barbara has set a record for the number of first-year students seeking admission to the seaside campus.

UCSB has received 81,782 applications from prospective freshmen for fall 2017, an increase of more than 6 percent over last year.

With 11 national centers and institutes, and more than 100 research units, UCSB offers unparalleled learning opportunities for undergraduate students. The world-class faculty includes six Nobel laureates, two Academy and Emmy Award winners, a Millennium Technology Prize recipient, a recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation and a recipient of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.

In terms of academic quality, prospective UCSB students continue to be among the best of the best. Of the 81,782 applicants for the entering class, 45 percent have a high-school GPA of 4.00 or higher. The average GPA of all freshman applicants is 3.86, up from 3.84 in 2016.

The number of California freshman applicants increased by 3,351 — 6 percent over 2016, for a total of 58,462. Applications from out-of-state students went up slightly to 8,768, and the number of international student applications rose by 9.6 percent to 14,552.

“Our outreach team visited a record number of high schools and community colleges to promote UC Santa Barbara to prospective students,” said Lisa Przekop, UCSB director of admissions. “In total we visited over 1,200 schools, meeting with more than 98,000 students and parents. I am especially proud that we visited all 113 California community colleges. In addition, we toured more than 17,000 visitors between July and December. Interest in UC Santa Barbara is definitely increasing.”

UCSB also continues to attract a diverse pool of prospective students. The campus received a total of 24,320 freshman applications from African-American, Native American, and Chicano and Latino students combined. This represents 30 percent of the applicant pool. In addition, 55 percent of all applicants for the UCSB freshman class are members of a racial or ethnic minority group.

Attesting to UCSB’s reputation across the country and around the world, applications from prospective nonresident students increased by 6 percent over last year, to 23,320.

Data regarding transfer applications will not be available until mid-January as the deadline for submitting applications has been extended to Jan. 3.

Beyond visiting schools and providing tours to campus visitors, the Office of Admissions has extended its reach through the use of technology to provide individual advising appointments to transfer students, webinars to school groups and YouTube- accessible video instruction that guides students through the application process.  “Our goal is public service and we make every effort to provide support through what is a very stressful process for applicants,” Przekop said.

This year, the admissions office expanded outreach efforts to community colleges and high schools that do not have high college-going rates. Partnering with several new non-profit organizations, UCSB admission counselors are looking to provide greater access to information about college preparation. “For many California families, the college application process is intimidating and we want to ensure that all families have the information needed to complete applications and enroll in a prestigious university like UCSB,” Przekop explained.

Already, the admissions team has begun the work of reviewing the applications.  “So far, we are extremely impressed with the academic preparation of prospective students and with their involvement in school and community activities,” Przekop said. “I have no doubt the incoming class of fall 2017 will be quite impressive.”

The UC system received a record 171,449 applications from prospective freshmen, which represents an increase of 3.1 percent. All nine UC undergraduate campuses experienced increases in freshman applicants. Chicanos/Latinos remained the largest ethnic group among California freshman applicants.

The UC Office of the President has posted statistics on undergraduate applications to all campuses. They can be found at http://www.ucop.edu/institutional-research-academic-planning/content-analysis/ug-admissions/student-workforce-data.html.