UC receives record number of undergrad applicants

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The University of California announced Thursday it had received a record number of applications for the coming academic year, even as the possibility of enrollment cuts loomed.

The data showed a jump in applications from minority, international and community college students, as well as an increase in freshman applications. The number of students applying for undergraduate admission for fall 2010 grew by nearly 6 percent - from about 127,000 a year ago to more than 134,000.

Those applicants could be vying for even fewer slots than last year, when the university cut enrollment of California-resident freshmen by 6 percent - about 2,300 students - to cover budget shortfalls.

Susan Wilbur, director of undergraduate admissions, said officials were discussing a comparable reduction for fall 2010, though a final decision has not been made.

The university was buoyed last week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget, which included better-than-expected funding for the UC system. The proposal gave hope that enrollment reductions could be curtailed, Wilbur said.

Regardless, she said, "the level of competition will be rigorous this year."

The university received more than 100,000 applications for freshman slots, up from 98,000 last year. The number of transfer applicants rose more than 17 percent to nearly 34,000.

The majority of transfer applications came from California community college students, a trend Wilbur said UC has worked hard to encourage.

Each of the 10 campuses saw application increases. UCLA saw the greatest number, with more than 76,000. The newest campus, UC Merced, saw a 21 percent jump, the greatest increase of any school.