In all, there are 23,835 undergraduate students and 9,310 graduate students enrolled at UC Berkeley this fall. Among the undergraduate population there are 3,655 new freshmen.

Compared to last year, the undergraduate population shows an increase in students from every ethnic group. Women continue to outnumber men among the undergraduate population and represent 54 percent of that group.

More than 36,000 highly talented students from across California apply to UC Berkeley each year, but space only allows for one in four students to be admitted into the fall freshman class. Each year, campus administrators set enrollment targets.

"Our goal is to allow as many qualified students as possible to attend UC Berkeley," said Horace Mitchell, vice chancellor for business and administrative services. "At the same time, we also have a commitment to the city of Berkeley to limit total campus enrollment. We work hard to balance these competing mandates."

The increase in the student population comes at a time when campus officials have taken several steps to reduce enrollment and remain within the limits of an enrollment cap set by an agreement between UC Berkeley and the city of Berkeley.

Under the agreement, each spring UC Berkeley reports its enrollment based on a two-semester average headcount, excluding students who are studying off campus. A campus committee is looking at strategies to keep the overall student headcount within the agreed limits.

The agreement, established in 1989, is part of the campus's Long Range Development plan and runs through the 2005/2006 school year.
The increase in students appears to be part of a trend seen at other universities and colleges across the country. More undergraduates are staying in school at UC Berkeley - a record-high 92.3 percent of all freshmen who entered in fall 2000 are still enrolled in fall 2002. The number of students classified as seniors continues to increase - in fall 1999, 7,127 continuing seniors were enrolled on campus; in fall 2000, the number grew to 7,213; in 2001, there were 7,606; and this year there are 8,413.

Data also show the following:

• In all, there are 23,835 undergraduates and 9,310 graduate students on campus this fall. In fall 2001, there were 23,269 undergraduates and 8,859 graduates.
• Among new transfer students there are 1,754 students in the fall 2002 class, compared to 1,723 in fall 2001. Underrepresented students (African American, Chicano/Latino, American Indian) represent 16.9 percent of the new transfer students, up from 16.1 percent in fall 2001.
• New graduate students number 2,737 this fall, compared to 2,624 in fall 2001.
• Among the fall freshman class, underrepresented students (African American, Chicano/Latino and American Indian) now make up 15.6 percent of the overall freshman class, up from 14.7 percent in fall 2001.
• The percentage of Asian Americans in the freshman class increased from 44.8 percent last year to 46 percent. And the percentage of white students dropped slightly from 30.1 percent last year to 29.8 percent. The percentage of students who identified themselves as "other" or who declined to state their ethnicity dropped as well.
• The total number of international students, undergraduate and graduate, increased from 2,627 in fall 2001 to 2,653 in fall 2002.