Record number of California residents apply to UC Berkeley

A record number of California residents have applied to UC Berkeley. (Photo by Elena Zhukova)

More than 125,800 students have applied for a seat in UC Berkeley’s fall 2023 freshman class, including a record number of California residents, according to new data released today.

The campus received 72,656 freshman applications from California residents, up from 72,417 in fall 2022. Applications from out-of-state and international students declined by almost 2%, resulting in a modest decline in the total overall number of freshman applications (125,874 for fall 2023 versus 128,129 the prior year).

Officials with the UC Office of the President have noted that while many of its nine UC undergraduate campuses experienced slight declines in applications, especially among students from outside of California, student applicants continue to apply to the university in impressive numbers.

Berkeley officials attribute the increase in its California resident applications to their enhanced outreach efforts to more California communities and more modest efforts toward out-of-state and international students. That approach is in line with campus and UC systemwide goals  of enrolling more California residents.

Berkeley officials said that factors contributing to the modest decrease in freshman applications from out-of-state and international students may include a number of factors including changing demographics, national trends and an inevitable leveling of numbers following year after year of record increases.

Berkeley officials attribute the increase in its California resident applications to their enhanced outreach efforts. (Photo by Kush Patel)

The number of applications from students seeking to transfer to  Berkeley from community colleges was essentially the same — 19,342 this year, down by seven student applications. California resident transfer applications were up by 85  to16,112.

UC systemwide, transfer applications declined 3.7%. Since the pandemic began, community college enrollment nationwide has declined.

In terms of ethnic makeup, the overall Berkeley freshman and transfer applicant pool for fall 2023 remained consistent with that of previous years. While there were fewer applications from various underrepresented minority groups, their percentage representation of the application pool remained the same. See detailed campus-by-campus and systemwide data on the UCOP website.