Minority enrollment up at UCI

UC Irvine reported a drop in freshman admissions from a year ago on Thursday, but the campus reported increases in the number of Latino and underrepresented minority students accepted.

A year ago, UCI admitted a record 23,167 first-year students, of which around 4,800 ended up enrolling for the fall. The number of students admitted this year was slightly lower at 22,153.

Nevertheless, UCI admissions director Marguerite Bonous-Hammarth said she was pleased with the total and that the campus should have no problem reaching the 4,600 seats it expected to fill for September.

“What’s always encouraging to me, because I read a fair number of the applications with my staff, is the quality of students we continue to attract,” she said. “These are students who are engaged in their communities, they have strong academic records and they appear poised to be successful here at the university.

“I think these students will leave a positive legacy for students to come.”

Asian students made up the largest ethnic group, totaling 44.6% of the admitted freshmen. White students placed second with 27.7%, while Latino students finished third with 14.8%.

Of the freshmen admitted to UCI this year, 20,753 are California residents. The 3,175 Chicano and Latino students accepted statewide were an all-time record for UCI — as were the 3,748 freshmen from all underrepresented minority groups, including Latinos, American Indians and blacks.