UC admissions reached a historic milestone for the 2026 fall semester, with the University of California admitting a record number of California first-year students. Despite the increase in admissions, competition remained intense at the system’s most selective campuses, particularly UCLA and UC Berkeley.
According to preliminary fall 2026 admissions data obtained by the Korea Daily from the University of California’s nine undergraduate campuses, the UC system admitted 153,272 first-year students, including 102,031 California residents. California students accounted for about 67% of all admitted freshmen.
The number of admitted California freshmen increased by 1,458 from last year, making it the highest in UC history. The UC admissions rate for California applicants also rose to 78%, up one percentage point from 2025, while total freshman applications exceeded 205,000.
UC Admissions Remain Highly Competitive at UCLA and Berkeley
Although UC admissions increased statewide, acceptance rates varied dramatically across campuses.
Among California resident applicants, UCLA posted the lowest acceptance rate at 10%, followed by UC Berkeley at 12%. UCLA has consistently been the most selective UC campus for California students over the past decade, with last year’s acceptance rate falling to just 9.4%.
Other California resident acceptance rates were:
- UC Irvine: 23%
- UC San Diego: 24%
- UC Davis: 35%
- UC Santa Barbara: 35%
Meanwhile, several campuses admitted a much larger share of applicants:
- UC Santa Cruz: 83%
- UC Riverside: 89%
- UC Merced: 99%
When all applicants—including out-of-state and international students—are considered, UC Berkeley (10.5%) and UCLA (10.8%) remained the two most selective campuses in the UC system.
Korean American Student Admissions Also Reach a Record
The latest UC admissions data also show continued growth in the number of admitted Korean American students from California.
According to figures provided to the Korea Daily by the UC Office of the President, 3,873 California Korean students—including freshmen and California Community College transfer students—were admitted for fall 2026.
That surpassed 3,841 admitted in 2025 and 3,639 in 2024, marking the highest total on record.
Among the admitted Korean students:
- 3,153 were first-year freshmen.
- 639 transferred from California Community Colleges (CCC).
Freshmen accounted for roughly 81% of all admitted Korean students, while Korean freshmen represented about 3.1% of the 102,031 California freshmen admitted across the UC system.
Korean Students Rank Fifth Among Asian Admits
Among admitted California Asian students, Korean Americans ranked fifth by ethnicity.
The breakdown was:
- Chinese: 13,538
- Indian/Pakistani: 8,987
- Vietnamese: 6,691
- Filipino: 6,469
- Korean: 3,873
Korean students represented 8.8% of the 44,157 Asian students admitted across the UC system. Although the number of Korean admits increased, their overall share dipped slightly from 8.9% last year as admissions among other Asian groups also rose.
UC Riverside Admitted the Most Korean Students
Among individual campuses, UC Riverside admitted the largest number of Korean students, with 2,157 offers of admission.
It was followed by:
- UC Santa Cruz: 1,742
- UC San Diego: 1,446
- UC Santa Barbara: 1,302
- UC Irvine: 1,292
- UC Davis: 1,216
The most selective campuses admitted fewer Korean students, with UCLA admitting 690 and UC Berkeley 687.
However, Korean students made up a relatively large share of Asian admits at those campuses. Koreans accounted for 11.7% of admitted California Asian students at UCLA and 12.2% at UC Berkeley, meaning more than one in ten admitted Asian students at both universities were Korean.
Among California Community College transfers, UC San Diego admitted the most Korean students (324), followed by UC Irvine (308) and UC Santa Barbara (232). UCLA (189) and UC Berkeley (113) admitted comparatively fewer Korean transfer students, reflecting the competitiveness of their transfer admissions as well.
Hanmi Yoon-woo, executive director of undergraduate admissions for the University of California, said the university is proud to continue welcoming students prepared to succeed at one of the world’s leading public university systems.
“We are proud to continue expanding educational opportunities for students across California while welcoming those with the preparation and potential to succeed at the University of California,” Yoon said.
The University of California consists of nine undergraduate campuses—including Los Angeles, Berkeley, Irvine, and San Diego—and the graduate health sciences campus at UCSF. Under an agreement with the state, the university continues expanding enrollment of California resident undergraduates by at least 1% annually in exchange for additional state funding.
