University of California Fall 2026 Admission Trends

Hot off the press!  We've had a chance to review the preliminary Fall 2026 admissions data released recently by the University of California and we thought it would be helpful to summarize it and share our key findings.  

Overall freshman admission rates increased systemwide to 74.6 percent from last year’s 72.8 percent, fueled by a more than 2.6 percent increase in acceptances against essentially flat application volume (+0.1 percent). Berkeley edged out UCLA to become the system’s most selective campus, and non-resident applicants continued to see meaningfully higher admit rates than California residents at most campuses.

Overall Findings

• Berkeley overtook UCLA as the most selective UC for Fall 2026, with an overall admit rate of 10.5% versus UCLA’s 10.8%. San Diego, Irvine, Santa Barbara and Davis followed at spots 3-6, with Santa Cruz, Riverside and Merced rounding out 7-9.
• Systemwide, the overall freshman admission rate rose from 72.8% to 74.6% year-over-year, driven by near-flat application volume (+0.1% change in total applicants) paired with a 2.6% increase in total admits.
• Considering admissions by residency, the average admission rate for California residents increased slightly from 77.2% to 78.4%, while out-of-state and international admit rates rose more from 61.9% to 64.1% and from 69.2% to 73.5% respectively. Total applications were roughly flat for California residents (-0.4%) and rose modestly for out-of-state (+1.9%), while international applications were essentially unchanged (-0.1%). Acceptances rose across all three groups, most notably for non-residents: CA resident acceptances rose 1.1%, out-of-state acceptances rose 5.7%, and international acceptances rose 6.0%.
• Notably, this year the UC System admitted the most California residents ever admitted in its history: 102,031, up from 100,947 the year prior.

Highlights by Campus

• Berkeley: Became the system’s most selective campus, with the overall admit rate declining from 11.4% to 10.5%. Total applications rose 5.0% and total admits fell 3.3%.  The CA resident rate fell from 13.6% to 12.4% (CA applications +4.9%, CA admits -4.3%), the out-of-state rate held roughly steady at 10.0% (from 10.3%) despite a 5.2% rise in out-of-state applications, as out-of-state admits rose 1.3%, and the international rate declined from 6.1% to 5.4% as international applications rose 5.0% and admits fell 6.6%.
• Davis: The overall admit rate rose from 44.6% to 45.8%, with modest 1.8% growth in the applicant pool paired with a 4.5% increase in admits.  Non-residents saw the largest gains: the out-of-state rate climbed from 63.4% to 71.0% (applications +2.5%, admits +14.6%) and the international rate rose from 57.1% to 66.6% (applications +0.6%, admits +17.3%), while the CA resident rate declined from 37.3% to 34.7% as CA admits fell 4.8% paired with a 2.1% rise in CA applications.
• Irvine: The overall admit rate ticked up from 28.7% to 30.3%, with total applications up 1.4% and admits up 7.0%.  The CA resident rate rose from 21.6% to 22.7% on a 1.1% rise in applicants matched by a stronger 6.5% increase in admits, while non-residents continued to see a meaningfully higher admit rate — out-of-state rose from 47.6% to 49.5% (applications +3.4%, admits +7.7%) and international rose from 42.8% to 45.5% (applications +1.2%, admits +7.6%).
• Los Angeles: The overall admit rate rose from 9.4% to 10.8%, becoming the system’s new second-most-selective campus.  The out-of-state rate rose the most, from 11.2% to 14.9%, as out-of-state applications rose just 2.2% but acceptances rose 35.8%. International students saw a similarly large 28.7% increase in acceptances against a 2.1% rise in applications. The CA resident rate rose modestly from 9.6% to 10.2%, on a 0.5% rise in applications and a 6.2% rise in admits.
• Merced: The overall admit rate held roughly steady, easing from 97.7% to 96.5%. The CA admit rate did not meaningfully change, and remains close to 100%.but non-resident admit rates declined slightly.  Out-of-state applications grew 13.1% with admits up 11.4% (rate down from 87.1% to 85.7%), and international applications rose 10.0% with admits up 9.6% (rate essentially flat at 80.0%, from 80.3%).
• Riverside: The overall admit rate rose from 87.4% to 88.5%, driven by strong growth among CA residents with a 2.9% increase in applications and a 4.4% increase in acceptances.  The CA admit rate rose from 87.5% to 88.7%. Admit rates for non-residents mostly held steady: out-of-state rose from 95.2% to 96.6% (applications +1.4%, admits +2.9%), while international eased from 83.7% to 82.3% as both international applications (-1.7%) and admits (-3.3%) declined.
• San Diego: The overall admit rate eased from 28.4% to 27.2%, as total applications rose 3.7% while total admits fell 0.7%.  The international rate declined most, from 30.6% to 27.4%, as international applications rose 4.9% but admits fell 5.9%. The out-of-state rate also eased, from 39.4% to 37.2%, despite a 7.8% rise in out-of-state applications, as admits rose just 2.0%. The CA resident rate was nearly flat at 24.1% (from 24.7%).
• Santa Barbara: The overall admit rate rose sharply from 38.3% to 44.0%, driven by large increases in non-resident admits.  The out-of-state rate jumped from 54.8% to 63.9%, as out-of-state admits rose 12.8% even though out-of-state applications fell 3.2%. The international rate rose from 48.1% to 63.2%, driven by a 33.6% increase in international admits against just a 1.8% rise in applications. The CA resident rate also rose, from 32.1% to 34.6%, as CA admits rose 5.6% despite a 2.0% dip in CA applications.
• Santa Cruz: The overall admit rate rose from 72.9% to 82.3%, driven by a striking 19.1% increase in applicants and a 34.5% increase in acceptances, primarily focused on admission growth for domestic applicants.  CA resident applications surged 24.8% and admits jumped 44.7%, pushing the CA admit rate from 71.2% to 82.6%. In contrast, international applications fell 3.1% while admits were nearly flat (-0.1%), lifting the international rate slightly from 72.2% to 74.4%.

Implications

• While admit rates are rising, the size of the applicant pool is essentially flat (+0.1% systemwide). The higher admit rate is thus driven by the UCs admitting more students. Total acceptances rose 2.6%, and the UC admitted the most CA residents in its history.
• CA residents saw the greatest jump in admit rate at Santa Cruz (+11.4 percentage points, on a 24.8% surge in CA applications and a 44.7% jump in CA admits), with smaller CA gains at Santa Barbara (+2.5 points) and Riverside (+1.2 points).
• Opportunities persist for out-of-state and international applicants at several campuses, including Davis, Irvine, San Diego, and Santa Barbara, with the differences most pronounced at Davis and Santa Barbara.
• CA residents see an advantage at Berkeley: at this campuses the CA resident admit rate now exceeds both the out-of-state and international rates, unlike most of the rest of the system.
• Out-of-state acceptances are up 5.7% and international acceptances are up 6.0% systemwide, with the largest non-resident gains concentrated at Los Angeles, Davis, and Santa Barbara, suggesting continued UC interest in growing non-resident enrollment.