Students of Color Near 74 Percent of U. of California’s Fall Freshman Class

If you want to see what diversity might look like in the future, just go to the campuses of the University of California come September.

The fall 2017 freshman class at UC system-wide may just be the picture of America’s future diversity.

In just-released numbers by the university, UC admitted a freshman class in which students of color make up 73.6 percent of the incoming class, while Whites are just 23.7 percent. The White student population is down 1.7 percent since 2015.

The biggest gain was seen among Chicano/Latino students who make up 37.3 percent of the freshman class. It represents a gain of 6,512 students since 2015.

Asian American students were next with a 29.1 percent share of the freshman class with 32, 497 students university-wide. That represents a gain of 996 students since 2015.

African American students held steady at around 6,919 students or 6.2 percent of the freshman class. The number was 6,268 in 2015 (6.1 percent). In 2016, the number improved to 6,589 (6.3 percent). Since 2015, the university has improved by just 651 students.

Among the smaller groups, American Indians also stayed steady with 663 admits at 0.6 percent of the freshman class. The number has been similar over the last two years but shows an overall loss of 32 students.