More than 59,000 students have applied for fall 2011 admission to the University of California, Davis -- a record high for the campus.

For the second year in a row, applications from transfer students jumped more than 20 percent. A total of 13,554 prospective transfer students applied from another college or university, a 20.5 percent increase from last fall's 11,252. Last year, transfer applications were up 25.7 percent over the previous year.

Applications from high school seniors applying for freshman status saw an increase of about 5.9 percent, from 43,269 last year to 45,806 this year.

Overall, UC Davis received 59,360 applications, 8.9 percent more than last fall's 54,521.

Other campuses also reported major gains in transfer applications, including 31.2 percent at Riverside and 22.4 percent at Merced; systemwide, freshman applications rose 5.7 percent, and transfer applications were up by 7.3 percent.

At UC Davis, the increase in transfer applications reflects campus efforts to increase the proportion of transfer students among its undergraduates and a UC systemwide effort to boost the number of students transferring from community colleges.

For fall 2011, UC Davis approved more than 5,400 Transfer Admission Guarantees, which give qualified applicants written guarantees of admission to UC Davis one year in advance. That is an 86.2 percent increase from the 2,900 for fall 2010.

More than one in three of the 12,291 California community college students who applied for fall admission to UC Davis participated in the program.

UC Davis enrollment targets for 2011 have not yet been set; in fall 2010, UC Davis enrolled 4,501 new freshmen and 2,756 new transfer students.

Applicants by ethnicity

A total of 41,980 California residents applied for freshman status at UC Davis in 2011, compared with 39,879 for fall 2010. Those from traditionally underrepresented groups -- African American, American Indian and Chicano/Latino -- increased 7.7 percent; they account for 26.9 percent, or 11,311, of all California resident applicants. Last year, they accounted for 24.3 percent.

A total of 10,912 U.S. residents are seeking to transfer from a California community college this year, compared with 8,883 last year. Those from traditionally underrepresented groups increased 32.8 percent; they account for 23.6 percent of the domestic applicants, compared with 21.8 percent last year.

Offers of admission

UC Davis has already offered admission to about 7,800 freshman applicants through UC's Eligibility in the Local Context program. To qualify, students must be designated by UC as among the top 4 percent of graduating students at a California high school.

Other freshman applicants will be notified of admission decisions in late March; transfer applicants will be notified in late April.

Lora Jo Bossio, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs, encourages applicants to UC Davis to create a MyAdmissions account now so that they can easily check their application status online. To create an account, go to http://myadmissions.ucdavis.edu.

Systemwide applications

Systemwide, UC applications are up 6.1 percent overall, from 134,029 for fall 2010 to 142,235 for fall 2011. A total of 106,070 students applied for freshman status, a 5.7 percent increase over last year's 100,320. Transfer applications rose 7.3 percent, from 33,709 last year to 36,165.

Statistics for the UC system are available at http://www.ucop.edu/news/studstaff.html.