Number of minority applicants rises

Thursday, January 21, 1999

Number of minority applicants rises

ADMISSION: With over 35,000 candidates, only 4,000 to be let in
this fall

By Mason Stockstill

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The number of underrepresented minorities who applied for
freshman admission rose slightly this year, but their share of the
entire candidate pool fell due to the record number of students
applying.

UCLA received just over 35,000 applications for freshman
admission, up from nearly 32,000 last year. Transfer applications
reached 9,300 this year, up from 8,000.

"We are thrilled about the interest in UCLA from both high
school seniors and community college students," said Rae Lee
Siporin, director of Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with
Schools, in a press release.

Despite the increase in the raw number of freshman applications
received from underrepresented minorities, the percentage of those
applications declined. Last year, underrepresented minorities made
up 16.8 percent of the freshman applications received; this year,
that number slipped slightly to 16.1 percent.

The number of applications received from Chicanos and Latinos
reached 4,116, up from 3,974 last year. Applications from African
Americans totaled 1,370 this year, up from 1,279. But Native
Americans continued to account for less than 1 percent of the
applications received, with a total of 194 this year, compared to
188 last year.

The number of applications from whites (11,881) and Asian
Americans (12, 939) comprise over two-thirds of the total applicant
pool again this year. The number of applicants who declined to
state their ethnicity fell by over 40 percent to 2,476 this year,
down from 4,202.

Mike de la Rocha, general representative for the Undergraduate
Students Association Council, said the still low number of
underrepresented minorities accepted was a problem for UCLA.

"The bigger question is not how many students apply, but when
will the university realize that the admission policies need to be
changed?" he said.

UCLA admissions officials confirmed that they would accept fewer
students this year – on the order of 1,100 less – to ease crowding
in on-campus housing.

"We’re aiming for 4,000 people (enrolling)," said Tom Lifka,
assistant vice chancellor of student academic services.

Last year, UCLA accepted 10,800 students, in hopes of having a
total of 3,850 students enroll.

Far more students took UCLA up on its offer of admission,
however. In the end, over 4,200 freshmen enrolled this fall. Lifka
attributed this to the higher quality of applicants attracted by
UCLA.

"When high-achieving students come here, other high-achieving
students see that, and they apply as well," he said. That UCLA
offers a quality education at a competitive price lures many
students as well.

"If you’re in-state, it’s hard to say no," Lifka said.

So this year, only 9,700 students will be offered admission.
Officials hope that this number of admits will yield close to 4,000
enrolling in the fall.

Though UCLA officials want to accept fewer students than last
year, this decision doesn’t mean the overall trend of accepting
more students each year has ended.

The goal of 4,000 freshman admits is still higher than last
year’s goal of 3,850.

"We had fewer seniors return (for a fifth year) this year, so we
were able to set our goal higher this year than last," Lifka
said.

This, Lifka said, was also because UCLA has been accepting a
higher caliber of students.

"When we take better and better students, they graduate
earlier," he said. "And that means we can accept more
students."

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