BERKELEY, Calif.
Black, Hispanic and American Indian enrollment rose sharply at the University of California's medical and law schools this fall, although the numbers still were below affirmative action levels.
University officials say better recruitment, stronger outreach programs and the declining cost of housing in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles probably account for the increases.
Preliminary figures released last month show that 94 Black, Hispanic or American Indian students — the three groups considered "underrepresented minorities" at UC — enrolled at the system's five medical schools, comprising 16.5 percent of the overall class. That was a 38 percent increase from 2001 when there were 68 underrepresented minorities representing 11.9 percent of the overall class.
The medical schools, at UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC San Diego and UC San Francisco had a combined incoming class of 570 students.
At the law schools of Berkeley, Davis and UCLA, 125 underrepresented minorities enrolled, comprising 16.2 percent of the class. That was a 39 percent increase over last year when 90 underrepresented minorities accounted for 11 percent of the class. In all, 772 students enrolled this year compared to 871 last year.
Under the old affirmative action system, which ended in 1997, underrepresented minorities consistently made up more than 20 percent of law and medical school enrollments.
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