Driven by Hispanic Growth, Students Apply to UCI in Record Numbers

A record 88,792 students applied to the University of California, Irvine this year, making it the fourth most popular UC school for would-be students.

Notably, the 7.7 percent increase in applications is one of the bigger increases of all the UC schools, and Hispanic applicants are driving the growth. UCI received more Hispanic student applications - 18,474 - than any other UC school. African American students are also applying to UCI in larger numbers. In 2015, the school received 7.1 percent more African American applications.

“UCI opened with 1,589 students in October 1965,” Chancellor Howard Gillman said in a written statement. “In 50 years we’ve grown into a preeminent research university with global reach and a place where diverse and high-quality undergraduate students know they can do serious and important work, receive academic and extracurricular experiences worthy of their talent and promise, and achieve at the highest level. This year’s applications numbers demonstrate that the UCI story is attracting the attention of increasing numbers of exceptional students seeking a world-class education.”

Overall, 193,873 student applied to the nine UC schools, and each school received a record number of applications. Nearly half of the state’s freshman applicants to UC indicated they would be the first in their families to graduate from college. The applicants for every ethnicity pool grew except among those who identify themselves as white or American Indian.

As is the case annually, UCLA received the highest number of application - more than 112,000, making the Westwood campus the most applied-to four-year university in the country, the university announced.

Freshman applicants will be notified of admission decisions by April 1, and admitted students will have until May 1 to declare whether they intend to register. Transfer applicants will be notified by April 30 and will have until June 1 to commit.

• City News Service contributed to this report.
• Photo Credit: UCI