More Hispanics than whites were admitted to the University of California this year, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The demographic shift signals a changing make-up of the country’s largest state, where Hispanics are already the largest ethnic group.
The university system admitted 61,120 Californians to this fall’s freshman class; 28.8% of them are Latino, topping 26.8% who are white, the university’s data detailed. Both demographic groups still trail Asians, who make up 36.6% of admitted freshman. Blacks represent just 4.2% of the admitted freshman class, continuing to lag behind their state-wide demographic representation, as 6% of Californians are black.
The predominance of Hispanics in higher education mirrors the state’s demographics going forward, too, where the group makes up just under half the state’s teens.
“The freshmen admitted reflect the changing demographics and diversity of the state,” Dianne Klein, a spokeswoman for the university system, told the Journal.
While the school cannot legally consider ethnicity during admissions, the school told the Journal they have sought to attract students from underperforming high schools where a concentrated number of low-income, minority students attend. A full 43% of the admitted students also identified themselves as would-be first generation college students.
The data also showed that the university system’s nine undergraduate campuses enrolled more out of state and foreign students, which will help bolster their budget as they pay a higher tuition, falling in line with a national trend at state schools.
Jane Timm