News Update

UC Berkeley says it could admit thousands fewer freshmen under court order

The University of California Berkeley could be forced to admit 3,050 fewer incoming freshmen in fall 2022 than previously anticipated under a court ruling, the university said Monday.

The California Court of Appeals issued a ruling that requires Berkeley to follow a lower court order requiring the campus to freeze enrollment at 42,437 students, the same number of students that enrolled in 2020-21. UC’s board of regents is appealing the ruling to the California Supreme Court.

To get to its 2020-21 enrollment levels, Berkeley estimates that it would have to reduce the incoming freshman class by at least 3,050 students than it previously expected to admit. To achieve that, the campus would also need to offer admission to about 5,100 fewer students than it had planned to.

“In a typical year, the campus offers admission to approximately 21,000 freshmen and transfer students and enrolls about 9,500 of them. Based on the usual yield rates at Berkeley — the number of students who accept an offer of admission — a reduction of at least 5,100 in undergraduate admissions offers would be needed in order to reduce by 3,050 students the overall enrollment level that had been planned for 2022-23,” Berkeley said in a statement.


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