Student enrollment across the University of California system for Fall 2025 reached a record high of 301,093, according to the UC’s Thursday, Jan. 8, press release. At UC San Diego, enrollment also hit a record high, with 45,087 matriculated students.
This year’s enrollment numbers mark a 0.6% increase from 2024’s total of 299,407, making the current student body the largest in system history.
Among the 10 campuses, UCLA had the highest Fall student enrollments at 47,435. UC Berkeley and UCSD followed closely with 46,151 and 45,087 students, respectively. UC Riverside saw the largest increase in enrollment, with a record-breaking incoming class of 8,297 total first-year and transfer students.
Jim Rawlins, UCSD associate vice chancellor for Enrollment Management, gave a comment to The UCSD Guardian on this report.
“We are excited to see this growth, and it reflects both a continually growing interest in this campus, and our commitment to ensuring California residents are given access to this nationally regarded institution,” Rawlins said.
This enrollment growth was expected across the UC, in accordance with the multiyear compact Gov. Gavin Newsom made with the UC in 2022 to “mutually agree to prioritize advancement of student-focused, shared goals,” mostly relating to equity and access.
“Here at the San Diego campus, our growth in new undergraduates is something that matches our plans and forecasting, and was communicated thoroughly to partners across the campus with several months’ advance notice — whether housing, Deans, department chairs, College Provosts, or others,” Rawlins said. “Enrollment Management/Admissions goes to great lengths to make the growth as even as possible across dozens of different departments and their related majors.”
One of the compact’s directives orders the UC to annually increase enrollment of California resident undergraduates by 1% each year, approximately 8,000 students between 2023-24 and 2026-27. Enrollment demographics reflect a record-breaking 200,000 undergraduates who are California residents, making this year the “tenth consecutive period of year-over-year growth for in-state enrollment.”
The compact further stipulates that nonresident undergraduates constitute no more than 18% of the total undergraduate enrollment at each UC campus. UCSD, UCLA, and UC Berkeley have committed to lowering their nonresident undergraduate enrollments to meet this limit. Although the share of nonresident undergraduates across the system continues to decrease — an ongoing trend since Fall 2021 — UCSD’s undergraduate population in 2025 still comprises 20.3% nonresidents.
Though graduate enrollment has fluctuated throughout the years, the UC enrolled 63,421 total graduate students this year, seeing a moderate 0.3% increase for the second consecutive year. However, these increases are not consistent by program; the UC saw a 13.5% increase in master’s programs, but a 2.3% decline in academic doctoral enrollment across all major disciplines.
This enrollment growth also comes amid the UC’s continued financial struggles due to federal funding cuts. In its Jan. 8 press release, the UC wrote that more than 400 federal research grants, around $230 million, remain suspended or terminated.
“With more students than ever enrolled at UC, full state and federal funding for the University is critical to sustaining the support services students need to succeed,” the press release read.
Despite these financial uncertainties, UCSD’s enrollment numbers continue to grow. In July 2025, the UC Board of Regents approved UCSD’s enrollment expansion as an amendment to the 2018 Long Range Development Plan, aiming to boost student enrollment to 56,000 by 2040.
