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Campus releases fall 2005 freshman admissions data
Number of underrepresented students increases modestly - 'a step in the right direction'

| 27 April 2005

More than 9,600 high-school students have been offered admission to Berkeley's fall 2005 freshman class, campus officials announced last week.

These highly motivated and academically outstanding students include a nationally ranked fencer, a Grammy-nominated guitarist, a ballet dancer who has performed at home and abroad, and a set of triplets.

The students come from every county in California except Alpine, from which there were no applicants. In addition, students offered admission hail from 44 states and 27 foreign countries.

Berkeley continues to admit a significant number of students from low-income families. Of the students admitted to the fall 2005 freshman class, 1,897 (28 percent) report parental incomes of less than $30,000 a year. And one in four comes from a family in which neither parent has a four-year college degree.

Campus officials were able to offer admission to more students this year: 8,887 for fall 2004 versus 9,664 for fall 2005. According to campus officials, budget cuts imposed in 2004-05 required UC Berkeley to reduce enrollment and, consequently, admission offers. The cuts were partially restored for 2005-06, and the number of offers has been increased accordingly.

Admission numbers were up this year in every ethnic category compared to those for the fall 2004 admitted class. Among African American students the number increased from 211 for fall 2004 to 276 for fall 2005. Chicano/Latino student admission increased from 955 last fall to 1,127 for fall 2005. American Indian numbers increased from 40 for fall 2004 to 51 for this fall.

The fall 2005 increases are modest but "a step in the right direction," said Walter Robinson, who began work as undergraduate-admissions director in January.

Among Asian American students, 3,538 were offered admission for fall 2004 and 3,889 for fall 2005. White students received 3,081 offers of admission for fall 2004. That number has increased to 3,318 for this fall.

Additional data show that women represent about 55 percent of the admitted freshman students, as has been the case for the last few years.

For fall 2004, about 24 percent of students who applied were admitted to the freshman class. For this fall, about 27 percent were admitted. The campus received 36,729 applications for fall 2004 freshman admissions and 36,943 for fall 2005.

Students are evaluated for admission to Berkeley based on a combination of factors including grades, test scores, coursework, how they have handled challenges and opportunities, and indicators of personal characteristics including leadership, motivation, and persistence.

Campus officials sent offers of admission to students on March 31, and students have until May 2 to log onto the campus website and submit a statement of intent to register. The campus expects to enroll 4,015 students in the fall 2005 freshman class.

Detailed data are available online at www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/04/19_admits_table.shtml. All data included there and listed on the accompanying charts at the site represent preliminary statistics. Unless indicated otherwise, all data include both domestic and international students.

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