UC Admissions Trends

Statewide admit rate aggregated across applicants and admits at the selected campus tier, 2020–2025.

UC Reach measures outcomes at the six most selective UC campuses: Berkeley, UCLA, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Irvine, and Davis. Santa Cruz, Riverside, and Merced are excluded — they admit at substantially higher rates and only one year of comparable data is currently available.

The 30-year GPA arms race — admit rate by GPA, 1994–2025

Freshman admit rate at each weighted-capped GPA level, every year since 1994. The top line is 4.0+ applicants — at the most selective campuses, even straight-A odds have collapsed.

Source: UCOP freshman admit rate by weighted-capped GPA, 1994–2025. "Weighted-capped" is UC's own GPA (honors/AP bonus, capped). The compression is concentrated at the top campuses — at Riverside and Merced a 4.0 is still a near-lock.

Admit rate by residency — is it easier as a non-resident?

Freshman admit rate for California residents vs. out-of-state vs. international applicants, 1994–2025. At several campuses non-residents are admitted at higher rates — though this is a raw rate, not controlled for GPA (see note below).

The headline, corrected for the Merced effect: systemwide it looks easier to get in as a California resident (77% vs 62% out-of-state), but that's a composition effect — CA residents flood the least-selective campuses (UC Merced admits 96% of CA applicants) and the systemwide figure counts being admitted to any UC. Across the six most selective UCs, it flips: non-residents are admitted at a higher rate — 31.4% out-of-state and 29.7% international vs. 22.6% CA resident (2025). The lone exception is UC Berkeley, where Californians still have the edge.

Who has the edge — 2025 admit rate

Systemwide = admitted to at least one UC campus. Campus rows are campus-specific admit rates — they are not additive and should not be averaged across campuses.

Campus	CA resident	Out-of-state	International	OOS − CA	Edge
Systemwide	76.8%	61.7%	68.3%	-15.1	Higher observed CA admit rate
UC Davis	37.2%	63.2%	56.1%	+26.0	Higher observed nonresident admit rate
UC Irvine	21.9%	47.4%	41.8%	+25.5	Higher observed nonresident admit rate
UC Santa Barbara	32.1%	54.8%	47.7%	+22.7	Higher observed nonresident admit rate
UC San Diego	24.6%	39.2%	29.5%	+14.6	Higher observed nonresident admit rate
UC Santa Cruz	71.0%	84.0%	71.9%	+13.0	Higher observed nonresident admit rate
UC Riverside	86.9%	88.8%	82.1%	+1.9	About even
UCLA	9.6%	11.2%	6.3%	+1.6	About even
UC Berkeley	13.6%	10.3%	5.8%	-3.3	Higher observed CA admit rate
UC Merced	96.3%	83.9%	80.0%	-12.4	Higher observed CA admit rate

⚠ These are raw admit rates, not adjusted for academic profile. A higher non-resident admit rate may mean a campus admits non-residents more readily — or that non-resident applicants are self-selected and stronger. The matched-GPA-band view below helps separate applicant-pool differences from residency effects, but is still a band-level observation — not a controlled estimate.

Comparable GPA, different odds — does residency still matter?

Admit rate within matched applicant-GPA bands (UC weighted-capped GPA), California resident vs. out-of-state vs. international. When applicants are grouped into comparable GPA bands, the nonresident admit-rate gap remains at several selective campuses — suggesting the raw gap isn't explained by broad GPA-band differences alone. This is not a causal estimate of residency preference: the data cannot control for intended major, course rigor, essays, extracurricular context, school context, or the full holistic-review process.

Compare the three bars within each band — heights across bands aren't a clean GPA gradient. Bands group schools by their average applicant GPA, so this controls for school profile, not individual student GPA — and can't see the essays, course rigor, intended major, or holistic context UC actually reads. Top band is 4.10+, where the capped GPA tops out.

The verdict: within matched GPA bands, UC Berkeley is the only campus where the observed admit rate is higher for California residents (CA admitted 1.5 pts more often). UCLA leans slightly nonresident (OOS admitted 3.6 pts more often). At Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara, and San Diego, observed admit rates for nonresidents in the same applicant-GPA band run 16–31 percentage points higher than for California residents — and out-of-state and international are treated almost identically. This pattern is consistent with UC's nonresident enrollment cap and the revenue incentive from nonresident supplemental tuition (~$34k/yr): Berkeley, held tightest, shows the smallest gap; campuses with cap headroom show the largest. (Correlation, not proof — major mix, course rigor, essays, extracurricular context, and the full holistic-review process may also contribute.)

Matched-GPA admit rate (applicants at 4.00–4.20) — CA vs. non-resident

Campus	CA	Out-of-state	Int'l	OOS − CA	Int'l − CA	Within matched GPA band
UC Irvine	27.0%	58.1%	58.0%	+31.1	+31.0	Higher observed nonresident admit rate
UC Davis	38.9%	68.0%	66.3%	+29.1	+27.4	Higher observed nonresident admit rate
UC Santa Barbara	36.7%	65.5%	67.2%	+28.8	+30.5	Higher observed nonresident admit rate
UC San Diego	23.0%	38.5%	36.5%	+15.5	+13.5	Higher observed nonresident admit rate
UCLA	10.1%	13.7%	11.6%	+3.6	+1.5	Slightly higher nonresident admit rate
UC Berkeley	14.4%	12.9%	10.1%	-1.5	-4.3	About even

⚠ Method: All three series are 2025 (CA from per-school applicant GPA + counts in our DB; out-of-state & international from 2025 UCOP per-school exports). Both sides drop schools whose admit count UCOP suppressed for small-cell privacy — symmetric treatment, but suppression still nudges surviving non-resident rates upward, more severely at Berkeley/UCLA (a critic could note this partly inflates the non-resident edge at the top two). The CA side reconciles to within ~1 pt of UCOP's published residency admit rates. UCLA's small lean (3.6 pts more often for OOS) matches UCOP's published raw rate, so it's a real if modest edge. International GPA is UC's recalculation of non-U.S. grading systems and is the least directly comparable of the three — read the International line as indicative, not exact. Merced/Riverside/Santa Cruz omitted (no per-school CA GPA).

What the systemwide number hides

UC can truthfully say it admits California residents at a higher rate than non-residents — systemwide. The same data, read per campus, tells the opposite story at the campuses students actually compete for.

The stat UC can cite

76.8% CA vs 61.7% out-of-state

"Californians are admitted at a higher rate." True — but this is admission to any UC (each CA applicant applies to ~5 campuses), so it measures access, not competitiveness. It's propped up by the open-access campuses: Merced admits 96% of CA applicants, Riverside 87%.

The campuses students compete for

Flips to non-residents

Across the six selective UCs the raw rate already inverts (22.6% CA vs 31.4% out-of-state). The gap widens inside matched GPA bands: among applicants in the 4.00–4.20 band, Davis admitted California residents at about 39% and domestic nonresidents at about 68%. Berkeley is the only selective campus where the observed CA admit rate stays higher.

Same system, two stories: access (admitted to any UC — higher observed rate for California residents, because Merced and Riverside take nearly everyone) versus observed competitiveness (selective campuses, within matched GPA bands — higher observed nonresident admit rate). The public headline leans on the first; applying families live the second.

Same GPA, different odds — does your school matter?

A school's average applicant GPA barely predicts its UC admit rate — the typical California high school lands near 22% whether its applicants average below 3.80 or above 4.00 (25%). What moves the needle is being top of your class: UC reads every applicant in local context — Eligibility in the Local Context (the top 9% of each California high school) plus holistic, context-based review. So a handful of schools place a large share of applicants into selective UCs despite below-average grades.

Schools that beat their GPA — below-3.80 average applicant GPA, high UC admit rate (2025)

School	Avg applicant GPA	Apps	UC admit rate ⓘ	UC Reach ⓘ
Fresno High School Fresno · Public	3.73	112	33.9%	11.1%
Desert Hot Springs Hs Desert Hot Springs · Public	3.76	196	32.7%	15.9%
Math Science Technology Magnet Los Angeles · Public	3.73	141	32.6%	—
San Gorgonio High School San Bernardino · Public	3.75	164	32.3%	17.6%
Granite Hills High · Public	3.75	140	32.1%	16.4%
Madera High School Madera · Public	3.74	181	32.0%	14.9%
Indio High School Indio · Public	3.77	263	31.6%	17.2%
Mendota High School Mendota · Public	3.71	114	31.6%	13.5%
Wallis Annenberg High School Los Angeles · Public	3.78	171	31.0%	45.7%
Pomona High School Pomona · Public	3.69	120	30.8%	15.0%

Admit rate = admits ÷ applications across UCB/UCLA/UCSD/UCSB/UCI/UCD (2025); an application admitted to several campuses counts at each, so it runs above a per-student rate (consistent across schools). These schools also lean toward the more accessible UCs (Davis/Irvine/Santa Barbara/San Diego) and draw self-selected pools — but the core driver is UC's local-context review. "Below average" describes the school's applicant GPA; admitted students average ~0.3 higher.

Why getting into UC is harder than ever

Statewide views, 1994–2025, across the six most selective UC campuses. Together they explain the squeeze UC Reach measures.

Admit-rate compression

Each campus admits a smaller share of applicants, 1994 to 2025.

GPA creep

Share of each campus's admits with a 4.0+ GPA, 1994 to 2025.

Public vs. private divergence

UC Reach (top-6 admits ÷ seniors) by school type.

Applications-per-senior inflation

Total UC applications ÷ seniors. Students apply to more campuses each year.

Yield trend

Share of admitted students who enroll, systemwide, 1994 to 2025.

Elite vs. Selective gap

Admit rate at UCB+UCLA vs. UCSD/UCSB/UCI/UCD.

Explore by campus tier

All 6 tracked Elite — UCLA, Berkeley Selective — UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD

Showing aggregate for: UC Berkeley UCLA

Aggregate Admit Rate by Year

Admit rate = SUM(admits) ÷ SUM(applicants) across the 2 selected campuses. Campus-level totals — one student admitted to multiple campuses is counted at each.

Admit Rate by Campus

Each line is one UC campus. Hover to see exact values. Lower lines mean the campus admitted a smaller share of its applicant pool that year.

Admits by Campus (count)

Total freshman admits each campus issued each year, 1994–2025 (all applicants). Useful for seeing absolute volume shifts as each campus grew.

Detail

Year	Applicants	Admits	Admit Rate
1994	43,695	19,951	45.7%
1995	48,036	19,553	40.7%
1996	53,127	20,000	37.6%
1997	56,311	19,132	34.0%
1998	62,784	19,342	30.8%
1999	66,785	18,832	28.2%
2000	71,082	19,838	27.9%
2001	76,889	19,976	26.0%
2002	79,816	19,153	24.0%
2003	81,925	19,421	23.7%
2004	80,100	18,954	23.7%
2005	79,184	21,183	26.8%
2006	89,052	22,116	24.8%
2007	94,833	22,200	23.4%
2008	103,755	23,036	22.2%
2009	104,305	22,693	21.8%
2010	108,030	23,882	22.1%
2011	114,530	27,141	23.7%
2012	134,386	27,088	20.2%
2013	148,156	28,364	19.1%
2014	160,310	27,876	17.4%
2015	171,540	29,319	17.1%
2016	179,663	31,448	17.5%
2017	187,215	30,996	16.6%
2018	203,310	29,260	14.4%
2019	198,602	27,977	14.1%
2020	196,926	30,992	15.7%
2021	252,316	31,323	12.4%
2022	278,011	27,366	9.8%
2023	271,809	27,413	10.1%
2024	270,511	26,753	9.9%
2025	271,889	28,019	10.3%

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers, sourced from the data above. Updated each UC admissions cycle.

Have UC admit rates dropped over the past 30 years?

Yes, significantly. Admit rates at the six most competitive UC campuses (Berkeley, UCLA, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Irvine, Davis) have compressed steadily from 1994 to 2025 as applications grew faster than seats. Among 4.0-or-higher GPA applicants to UCLA, the admit rate collapsed from 82.7% in 1994 to 15.1% in 2025.

What was UCLA's admit rate for 4.0+ GPA applicants in 1994 versus 2025?

82.7% in 1994 versus 15.1% in 2025. A straight-A applicant in 1994 was nearly certain to be admitted to UCLA; today the same GPA admits at roughly one in seven. The decline is concentrated at the top campuses — at UC Riverside and UC Merced a 4.0 GPA is still a near-lock.

Is it easier to get into UC as a California resident or as a non-resident?

It depends on the campus. Systemwide, California residents have a higher admit rate (~77% vs. ~62% out-of-state), but that figure is inflated by the most accessible campuses (UC Merced admits roughly 96% of California applicants). Across the six most selective UCs, non-residents are admitted at a higher raw rate.

Within matched GPA bands, do nonresidents have a higher UC admit rate than California residents?

Within matched applicant-GPA bands (4.00 to 4.20 UC weighted-capped), observed admit rates were 16 to 31 percentage points higher for nonresidents than for California residents at UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, and UC San Diego in 2025. UC Berkeley is the only selective campus where the observed admit rate stayed higher for California residents. This is a band-level observation, not a causal estimate of residency preference — it does not adjust for major mix, course rigor, essays, or the full holistic review.

Which UC campus has the highest observed admit rate for California residents at matched GPA?

UC Berkeley. Within the same applicant-GPA band in 2025, California residents were admitted at an observed rate 1.5 percentage points higher than out-of-state students. Every other selective UC campus shows the opposite pattern within matched GPA bands. These are band-level observations, not causal estimates.

Why does the systemwide UC admit rate favor Californians but per-campus rates do not?

The systemwide figure measures admission to any UC and is propped up by the most accessible campuses (Merced, Riverside). Most California applicants apply to several UCs, so the headline number reflects admission to at least one campus. At the campuses students actually compete for, the pattern flips and non-residents are admitted more often.

What is UC Reach and how do California high schools score?

UC Reach is top-6 UC admits divided by senior class size. It measures the share of a graduating class earning admission to one of the six most competitive UC campuses. Fewer than 1% of California high schools clear 100%. The California median UC Reach is approximately 78%.