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UC Receives Record Number Of Undergraduate Applications

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Despite big tuition hikes, the University of California again received a record number of undergraduate applications for the fall, driven by sharp increases from out-of-state and international students, school officials said Friday.

They said the number of applications rose 6.1 percent to more than 142,000, with a 5.7 percent increase in freshman applicants and a 7.3 percent increase in transfer applicants.

The university system reported a modest 3.6 percent increase from in-state freshman applicants, while the number of applications rose 10.7 percent for out-of-state students and a 22.5 percent for international students.

All nine undergraduate campuses received more freshman applications, with the biggest increases at San Diego, Merced and Riverside.

Among in-state freshman applicants, the university saw an 18 percent increase among Latinos and a 5 percent increase among Asians, while applications from white and black students rose modestly.

The system has seen a steady increase in applications for at least the past decade, and the trend has continued over the past few years even as deep cuts in state funding forced the university to furlough staff, cut courses, reduce enrollment and sharply raise tuition.

Tuition for in-state resident undergraduates has risen more than 30 percent over the past year and is set to increase another 8 percent this fall, when they will pay $11,124, which doesn't include individual campus fees or room and board.

Out-of-state students did not appear to be deterred by the roughly $34,000 in tuition that the system charges nonresident undergraduates.

The increase in student applications came as California's public colleges and universities brace for another round of state budget cuts.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday proposed a state budget for the coming fiscal year that would reduce state spending on higher education by $1.4 billion, including a $500 million cut to the 10-campus UC system.

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