The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has received a record number of applications for fall 2015, school officials announced.
With more than 112,000 students -- with more diverse geographic, ethnic and racial backgrounds than last year's applicants -- applying for admission, UCLA becomes the nation's most applied-to four-year university. That number comprises 92,681 freshman applicants and 20,063 transfer applicants.
School officials also saw an increase among virtually all racial and ethnic groups, with healthy jumps among groups that traditionally have been underrepresented at the university. The number of applications from African-Americans increased by 13 percent from last year while the number of applications from Chicano/Latino students grew by 5.6 percent. There was a slight dip in the number of applications from Native Americans, although the number of Native American applicants is higher now than it was three years ago. The numbers of applications from Asian-Americans and white students were 4.8 percent and 5.4 percent higher, respectively.
"The data shows that expanding our recruiting efforts is paying off," Youlonda Copeland-Morgan, UCLA's associate vice chancellor for enrollment management, said in a statement. "The robust increase in the diversity of our applicants is the result of our concerted efforts to reach out to rural communities, underserved communities, large urban areas where there's evidence of talent, and indeed every community in California."
In addition to the growth in the number of applications this year, the quality of UCLA's applicants also increased.
Freshman applicants will be notified of UCLA's admission decisions by April 1, and admitted students will have until May 1 to notify the campus of their intention to register. Transfer students will be notified of admission decisions by April 30 and will have until June 1 to commit.
