The University of California has announced an increase in Black applicants from California for a place in the Fall 2022 entering classes at the nine undergraduate campuses of the system. There are 8,640 Black applicants to the university this year, up from 8,405 a year ago and 6,900 in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
At some campuses, the increases have been significant. At the flagship Berkeley campus, there are 4,647 applicants compared to 4,035 a year ago, an increase of more than 15 percent. This was the largest increase at any of the nine undergraduate campuses. The University of California, San Diego saw a 10 percent increase and Black applicants at the University of Calfornia, Los Angeles are up by more than 7 percent. (Many applicants apply to more than one campus.)
The elimination of the SAT requirement at all University of California undergraduate campuses undoubtedly is a contributing factor to increases at the most selective campuses.
At the University of California, Merced and the University of California, Riverside, the number of Black applicants decreased.
