By Neal Narahara
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
After much deliberation, admissions officers sent out 10,703
open-ended letters of invitation to high school seniors saying that
they were UCLA’s first choices. In late June, the university
got its answers, with 40 percent of those students declaring that
the feeling was mutual.
The number of statements of intent to register, which should
almost exactly match the enrollment for the fall, shows a 10
percent increase in the number of underrepresented students over
the number enrolled last year.
In addition, underrepresented students ““ which includes
Latina/os, African Americans and American Indians ““ will make
up 17.2 percent of the incoming class, up from 16 percent.
“The UCLA community has worked extremely hard to recruit
admitted students to UCLA, and we are delighted to see that a
record proportion of (underrepresented) students has decided to
enroll at the university,” said Chancellor Albert Carnesale
in a statement. “Our continued goal, however, is to intensify
our outreach efforts so that more underrepresented students are
prepared for and admitted to the university.”
Recent outreach efforts have included partnerships with schools
and districts in Los Angeles as well as tutoring and simply
informing students about eligibility requirements to improve their
chances of getting into UCLA.
Of the 1,544 students admitted as freshmen from underrepresented
minority groups, 723 have declared their intention to attend UCLA
in the fall.
According to figures from the university, statements of intent
to register from Latina/o students increased by 13 percent
respectively this year, while those for Native American students
increased by more than half. Statements of intent by African
American students were the only ones to fall from last year ““
down 5 percent with a six student decrease.
Representing more than 40 percent of the incoming freshman
class, Asian Americans will be the largest minority group, followed
by white students at almost 33 percent.
Despite the increases over the previous two years, the numbers
of underrepresented students who intend to register still remain
below those of 1997, the last year race could be used as a factor
in admissions.
“That’s really sad and it’s proof that
institutional inequality exists,” said Elias Enciso, the
internal vice president of the Undergraduate Students Association
Council and a member of Praxis, a political slate which supports
the use of affirmative action.
“It sends out the message that UCLA doesn’t want
people of color,” he added.
In 1995, the UC Board of Regents passed SP-1, a proposal to
eliminate race and gender in admissions ““ the move was later
reinforced by California voters with the passage of Proposition
209, which ended the use of affirmative action throughout public
institutions in the state.
When the restrictions went into effect with the freshman class
of 1998, the number of admitted underrepresented minority students
dropped off by nearly 30 percent at UCLA.
Since the passage of SP-1, maintaining diversity has become an
increasingly important issue. The university has placed increased
funding into outreach programs in an attempt to improve the quality
of California’s K-12 education and in turn, attract
underrepresented minority students to the university by improving
their eligibility.
The average SAT score for students planning to enroll is 1277,
up two points over last year, and the average GPA is 4.05, down
from 4.13 last fall.
Incoming freshmen have taken an average of 14.7 honors and
advanced placement courses, down from 15.9.
System-wide, 29,000 students including 4,730 from
underrepresented groups have chosen to attend a UC school out of
over 50,000 applicants.
While the number of underrepresented minority students is
greater than in 1997, they still represent a smaller percentage of
incoming freshmen due to higher enrollment numbers.
“There were slight increases across the board, but nothing
glaring,” said Terry Lightfoot, a spokesman for the UC.
According to Lightfoot, there are no predetermined goals for the
percentage of admitted students the UC hopes will register in the
fall, but he said he is positive about the increase in diversity
over last year.
“We hope it will continue in the future,” Lightfoot
said. “We think it does represent an improvement and hope to
see the trend continue over the years.”
With reports from Melody Wang, Daily Bruin Contributor.
MORE UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS CHOOSE TO ATTEND
UCLA
SOURCE: UCLA
The number of underrepresented students rose again since
their initial drop in 1997, the last year the university used
affirmative action. Note: Figures before the year 2000 are
for actual enrollment rather than Statements of intent to register.
Original Graphic by JACOB LIAO/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by ROBERT
LIU/Daily Bruin Senior Staff