May 27, 2002 Admissions numbers show strong student interest in UCSC By Jennifer McNulty Nearly 3,600 newly accepted freshmen have indicated they intend to enroll at UCSC this upcoming fall, marking an 8 percent increase over the number of students who filed "Statements of Intent to Register" (SIRs) with the Admissions Office by this time last year. In addition, SIRs are up nearly 3 percent from students who identify themselves as members of underrepresented ethnic groups on this campus. The reply deadline for freshmen was May 1. "Not only is UC Santa Cruz becoming a more popular campus, we're also attracting a greater diversity of students, and that benefits everyone." --Kevin Browne, executive director of admissions and university registrar While the actual fall enrollment will not be known until early October, it is expected that UCSC will have approximately 100 more freshmen than last fall. "Not only is UC Santa Cruz becoming a more popular campus, we're also attracting a greater diversity of students, and that benefits everyone," said Kevin Browne, executive director of admissions and university registrar. A total of 3,523 students plan to enroll this fall, compared to 3,431 at this time last year. Among underrepresented groups, the number of African American/black students is about the same as last year, 418 compared to 420. The number of Chicano/Mexican American undergraduates is up 4.3 percent, to 1,772 from 1,699. SIRs from American Indian students were up 7.7 percent to 126 from 117 students last year. Latino students dropped slightly from 602 last year to 595 this year. Asian students, although not underrepresented in the University of California system as a whole, rose 8.4 percent over last year, to 4,197 from 3,873, according to the Admissions Office. "We're very pleased by the talent and diversity these incoming students represent," said Browne. Data on the number of transfer students who plan to enroll at UCSC in the fall will be available after June 1. Return to Front Page