The University of California admitted a higher number of community college transfer students and out-of-state students than previous years for fall 2018, according to early enrollment numbers released Wednesday.
UCLA admitted 474 fewer freshmen but 51 more transfer students than last year. Overall, UCLA accepted students from 109 in-state community colleges.
The UC faced pressure from Gov. Jerry Brown to increase the number of transfer students to one for every two freshmen. Brown withheld $50 million from the UC in 2017 until eight campuses, including UCLA, met this ratio. Brown advocates the transfer option as a cheaper path to a degree.
[Related link: UC to guarantee admission for qualified community college students]
Brown and other legislators have also encouraged the UC to admit more California residents. A provision in the Budget Act of 2016 called upon the board to impose a specific limit on nonresident students as a condition to receive $18.5 million in additional funding.
The UC Board of Regents voted in May 2017 to limit the percentage of nonresident undergraduate students to 18 percent at five UC campuses. Campuses where nonresident enrollment already exceeded 18 percent, including UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine and UC San Diego, had to cap enrollment at their 2017-2018 levels. For UCLA, that would be 22.8 percent.
[Related link: Bill ensures nonresident students held to higher academic qualifications]
However, the UC overall admitted more nonresident students and California residents than last year. UCLA extended offers to 5,043 out-of-state students, not including international students, as opposed to 4,871 last year. UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara also increased the number of admitted nonresident students.
UCLA focused especially on recruitment in the Central Valley as part of a joint effort between UC and California Community Colleges to enroll more transfer students from underrepresented areas. The effort was launched in September 2016 to help Central Valley students become more competitive applicants, according to the UCLA office of enrollment management.