The University of California, Davis, this fall enrolled its largest number of transfer students even as UC budget constraints reduced the size of the freshman class.

New students who transferred from a community college or university number 2,219 this fall, compared with last fall's 1,914, for a 15.9 percent increase. The 4,412 new freshmen coming directly from high school represent an 11.3 percent decrease from last fall's 4,972.

In all, record fall enrollment of 32,153 represents an increase of about 2.3 percent from last fall's 31,426.

Frank Wada, executive director of Undergraduate Admissions and university registrar, said the changes among new undergraduates are in keeping with a UC Board of Regents vote in January to curtail enrollment for UC's freshman class and increase the number of transfer students.

In the long term, UC Davis is planning to increase the proportion of transfer students in the entering class, currently about 33 percent, to about 35 percent by fall 2020.

Wada said UC Davis recruiters and advisers worked closely with community college advisers and students to achieve the increase in transfers. For fall 2009, UC Davis wrote almost 20 percent more agreements guaranteeing admission for California community college students who fulfilled certain academic conditions. Additionally, UC Davis guaranteed housing to transfer students for the first time in years.

This year's freshman class is one of the strongest ever at UC Davis, Wada said. "Even though our enrollment targets for freshman students were reduced and the number of applications increased more than 4 percent from the previous year," he said, "we were still able to retain student diversity and increase the proportion of students who are from families with low incomes."

Among freshmen who reported parental income, 38.4 percent are considered low income (their family size and income level make them eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch through the National School Lunch Program); last fall, 36.3 percent were from low-income families.

The average grade point average of the freshman class is 3.85, compared with 3.79 in fall 2008. The average SAT score of enrolled freshmen is 1791, up from the average score of 1764 in fall 2008.

Among transfer students, the average GPA for college studies remained constant at 3.32.

By ethnicity

A total of 4,344 of the 4,412 new freshmen are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and among them, more than 20 percent are from traditionally underrepresented groups.

Among the 2,085 transfer students from the United States, 364, or 17.5 percent, are from traditionally underrepresented groups.

Among all 29,696 students from the United States, 16.2 percent are from traditionally underrepresented groups, compared with 15.4 percent last fall. (This count excludes medical and veterinary school interns and residents.)

Overall enrollment

The number of new and continuing undergraduates (including teaching-credential students) increased by about 1.8 percent, from 24,209 last fall to 24,655 this fall. The number of academic graduate students increased by 3.2 percent, from 4,085 to 4,215. The number of professional students increased from 3,132 last fall to 3,283 this fall, for a 4.8 percent increase.

Looking only at the Davis campus, the student population is expected to average 27,740 across the three quarters of the academic year.

Men account for 44.7 percent of the student population, and women 55.3 percent. About 92.2 percent of students are California residents. (These numbers exclude interns and residents.)

For the general campus, 5,076 students are classified as freshmen; 4,483 as sophomores; 6,722 as juniors; 8,230 as seniors; 144 as teaching-credential students; 3,943 as master's or doctoral degree candidates; and 1,278 as professional students.

In the health sciences, 272 are designated as master's or doctoral degree students and 2,055 as professional degree candidates.

Here is a comparison of fall quarter enrollments from last year to this year:

Fall 2009

Undergraduates 24,655

• Agricultural & Environmental Sciences 5,493
• Engineering 3,044
• Letters & Science 10,658
• Biological Sciences 5,316
• Teaching Credential 144

Graduate Academic 4,215

Professional 3,283

• Graduate School of Management* 547
• Law 623
• Medicine** 1,353
• Veterinary Medicine** 652
• Graduate Division 108

Total 32,143

Fall 2008

Undergraduates 24,209

• Agricultural & Environmental Sciences 5,283
• Engineering 2,936
• Letters & Science 10,594
• Biological Sciences 5,260
• Teaching Credential 136

Graduate Academic 4,085

Professional 3,132

• Graduate School of Management* 506
• Law 589
• Medicine** 1,291
• Veterinary Medicine** 651
• Graduate Division 95

Total 31,426

* Figures for the management school include students in the MBA program for working professionals: 431 this fall and 396 last fall.

** Numbers for the medical and veterinary schools include interns and residents. The medical school has 805 this fall compared with 749 last fall; the vet school has 101 this fall compared with 109 last fall.

About UC Davis

For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 31,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $500 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges -- Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science. It also houses six professional schools -- Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.