As an eager freshman, I entered UCLA with hope for the endless possibilities of people I would meet and the chance encounters with students from all over the world.

“Want to make the world better? Let’s Go.” These are the words that headline the UCLA undergraduate admissions page. However, the UC 2030 Capacity Plan suggests that worldwide impact can be made with a local network.

The UC 2030 Capacity Plan aims to increase the admissions of California residents to UC schools, with emphasis on increasing in-state student admissions and strengthening community college transfer programs.

Considering the competitive admission rates present in the UC system, the plan can be seen as a way to ease California residents’ worries. But the number of out-of-state students will be in gradual decline to compensate for the increasing number of in-state students.

California public institutions should serve California students, but not at the expense of creating a geographically diverse community. Diversity in the student body advances the interests of students and the school, and cannot be lost with the UC’s new plan.

[Related: UC admits record number of California residents as first-year students for 2026-27 cycle]

The UC system is funded partially through state taxpayer dollars. Therefore, it is logical for these institutions to serve California students. But a geographically diverse campus provides diverse perspectives, better preparing California students for life beyond college.

Crossan Cooper, a doctoral student in economics at Yale University, said out-of-state peers can lead to in-state students following labor market opportunities beyond the state, which may expand their horizon.

California residents make up around 80% of the undergraduate student body at UCLA. Across town, only 42% of incoming freshmen at the University of Southern California are California residents. Geographic diversity may become an edge that private institutions have over the UC system.

“That decline (in out-of-state students) will also see a decline in really intelligent and outstanding out-of-state students,” said Mayuko Tobaru, a second-year applied mathematics student from Washington.

This trend with the UC is not universal among all public institutions. For instance, the No. 3 public university, the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, has a near 50-50 split between in-state residents and those from beyond Michigan.

California’s population, which is the largest in the country, may contribute to the rising numbers of in-state UC students. But this does not mean the University should lose sight of the value of geographic diversity.

Ozan Jaquette, an associate professor at UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies, said regardless of state population and admission rates of students, the demand continues to exceed the available spots at the UC.

“There’s still a ton of people that want to go to the University of California,” Jaquette said. “They would rather go to the University of California than a CSU or a community college, and given that there’s so much demand, … it makes sense to try to meet that demand for California enrollment.”

California residents are lucky to have these world class universities in their backyards. But out-of-state students offer unique perspectives and connections that cannot be replicated solely with Californian students.

Geographic diversity not only creates a wider range of perspectives to learn alongside, but can also lead to more opportunities for the University itself.

Graduates going into high-wage labor markets in other states can raise the profile of alumni and lead to increased visibility for schools, Cooper added.

Some argue a deliberate inclusion of out-of-state students can make already competitive spots more coveted. But this scarcity mindset is only making campuses more geographically homogenous.

The UC must consider the benefits of geographic diversity both for the prosperity of students and the school as a whole.