When classes begin Thursday, a student body of 28,325 is anticipated at UC Davis, up 1,033 or 3.8 percent from last fall's 27,292.

On-campus enrollment is anticipated to average 25,938 over the three academic quarters.

Total undergraduate enrollment is expected to rise by 836. About 4,730 new freshmen, drawn from a record pool of 28,790 applicants, likely will register by the start of classes. That's 255 more than last fall.

An estimated 1,000 of the 1,910 new transfer students, from a record applicant pool of 6,648, will have participated in the Transfer Admission Agreement program with 81 community colleges throughout the state.

Upper-division students will make up 58.2 percent of the undergraduate student body this year.

New graduate and professional students are expected to increase their ranks by 195, for a total of 3,873.

Here's a snapshot of what this fall's students will find as they arrive next week:

Course Availability

As of Sept. 9, most students - from 88 percent of freshmen to 82 percent of seniors - were able to enroll in 12 or more units.

Students needing to pick up additional courses to complete their schedules will find a variety of open course sections and classroom seats. Currently, about 680 sections with some 14,500 seats are available within the College of Letters and Science.

Openings exist in introductory science and mathematics courses such as calculus and an innovative new Web-based statistics course. Waiting lists are in effect for such high-demand courses as general chemistry and organic chemistry, but the expectation is that most, if not all, of the students seeking to enroll will be accommodated.

In the social sciences, many introductory and advanced courses are full, but there are openings in a limited number of sections and courses.

English composition courses are full, but these courses also will be offered in the winter quarter.

Introductory level courses in most foreign languages are full, although a few openings may be found in German and Hebrew. Students may request "simultaneous enrollment" to enroll in a course at another college when the equivalent at UC Davis is full.

New Programs

This fall, the School of Education offers a new program enabling students with a bachelor's degree to work toward a teaching credential in nine months and, with an additional two quarters of study, also earn a Master of Arts degree.

In August, the School of Medicine and the School of Veterinary Medicine enrolled the first students in a master's degree program in public health.

UC Davis also is launching a new service for the parents of freshman students - The Aggie Family Pack (see story on Page 1).

Fees and Financial Aid

Undergraduate students who are Calif-ornia residents will pay $4,629.50 this school year, and resident academic graduate students will pay $4,902.

About 60 percent of the undergraduate student body is expected to be receiving some form of financial aid. So far, aid totaling $96 million - in loans, grants, Federal Work-Study and scholarships - has been awarded to about 13,000 undergraduates for 2002-03.

Housing

Student Housing will accommodate an increased number of freshmen - about 4,150 total - in existing facilities by offering additional triple rooms. Construction has begun on a larger dining commons and additional housing for 380 students in the Segundo area for 2003.

Currently, planning is under way for an expansion of the Tercero dining commons and the construction of the first phase of housing for 400 students in the same area. Both projects are scheduled for completion in fall 2005.

Building Construction and Renovation

The new $57 million Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, with its 1,800-seat hall and 250-seat studio theatre, will host the convocation Oct. 2, and its opening festival includes free performances Oct. 5 and 6.

The $39.6 million Plant and Environmental Sciences Building, north of Veihmeyer Hall, will be dedicated Monday (see story on page 3).

Many other projects are now in planning, design or construction. Among them:

• Construction is under way on a $46 million activities and recreation center near Recreation Hall. The new facility will include multipurpose athletic courts, weight and exercise areas and a gymnasium. It is scheduled for completion in spring 2004.
• The $7 million aquatic center is expected to be completed next summer. It includes an open-air swimming pool, a warming pool, and men's and women's lockers.
• The $95 million Genome and Biomedical Sciences Building is being built in the Health Sciences Complex and is scheduled for completion in summer 2004.
• Ground was broken in May for the $56.7 million Sciences Laboratory Building east of Briggs Hall. The building, scheduled for completion in fall 2004, will house classrooms, labs and a 500-seat lecture hall.

Parking and Transportation

Beginning Monday, stack parking will be in effect in four parking facilities including the parking structure on Howard Way and lots 10, 41 and 45.

Fall projects include widening Hutchison Drive to accommodate bicycle lanes from County Road 98 to Highway 113; landscape improvements on Old Davis Road from Interstate 80 to California Avenue; and improvements to bicycle paths in the arboretum.

Planning is under way for a 1,450-space parking structure west of the Life Sciences Addition. It is set to open in the spring of 2005. And the lot west of the Recreation Pool will be expanded to provide an additional 70 parking spaces in the spring of 2003.