The University of California, Davis, offered admission to more freshman hopefuls for fall 2011 than last year, but still accepted fewer than one in two freshman applicants.

UC Davis admitted 21,074 students, or 46 percent, of the 45,825 freshmen who applied for fall 2011. Last year, the campus admitted 19,460, or 44.9 percent of 43,315 freshman applicants.

California high school students represent about 86.5 percent of admitted freshmen this year. Out-of-state students represented 6.5 percent and international students represented about 7.1 percent.

Last year, 867 out-of-state students accounted for 4.5 percent of all admitted freshmen, and 809 international students accounted for 4.2 percent.

UC Davis offered admission to higher percentages of non-resident applicants compared to resident applicants because history shows lower percentages of non-residents enroll.

Projections from a UC Davis pilot program to enroll more non-resident students indicate that about 200 additional non-residents actually will enroll this year, bringing the number of out-of-state and international students in the entering freshman class to about 340.

Lora Jo Bossio, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs and interim director of Undergraduate Admissions, said the increase in admission offers to non-resident students does not come at the expense of resident applicants. UC Davis offered admission to 438 more California residents than last year.

"Enrolling more out-of-state and international students will enhance the educational experience for all students and prepare them to be successful in a global society," she said.

Bossio added that non-resident students pay almost $23,000 a year more in fees than resident students pay, and said the additional revenue will be used to support academic offerings and student services for all students.

Waiting list

One of seven UC campuses using a waiting list for 2011 freshman admissions, UC Davis offered a spot on a waiting list to more than 5,900 applicants. Slightly more than 2,200 chose to be on the list.

If space becomes available in the entering freshman class, some students from the waiting list will be admitted after May. Last year, UC Davis had about 1,500 students on the waiting list and offered admission to about 600. About 350 enrolled at UC Davis for fall 2010.

Information about the UC Davis waiting list is available at: http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/waitlist.

On Friday, UC Davis will host thousands of admitted students and their families for Decision UC Davis, a special program of tours and presentations to help them become more familiar with the campus.

Enrollment

This fall, UC Davis aims to enroll about 4,704 new freshmen from California and elsewhere. Last year, the campus enrolled 4,504 new freshmen.

The campus also is planning for about 2,810 new students to transfer from another college or university this fall, compared with the 2,778 who enrolled last fall.

In a March 7 projection, the campus Office of Administrative and Resource Management estimated total UC Davis enrollment for the upcoming fall quarter — including continuing undergraduates and graduate students — would be 32,455 students, an increase of 0.5 percent from last fall's 32,290. Enrollment is expected to average 31,180 over the three regular quarters of the 2011-12 academic year.

Total enrollment includes students who will study at locations outside of Davis, such as the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento and the UC Washington and Education Abroad programs.

Admitted freshmen have until May 1, and admitted transfers have until June 1, to indicate their intent to register at UC Davis. Students can notify UC Davis of their decision to attend UC Davis online at http://myadmissions.ucdavis.edu.

Admitted freshmen by ethnicity

Students from under-represented groups — American Indian, African American and Chicano/Latino — account for more than 23 percent of California students with freshman admission status who stated their ethnicity. Last year, the figure was about the same.

The number of admitted students identifying themselves as members of under-represented groups increased by about 8.5 percent, from 3,877 last year to 4,205 this year.

Systemwide admissions numbers, including those for the Davis campus, are accessible through a website of the Office of the President at http://www.ucop.edu/news/studstaff.html.