An Estimated 28,500 Students
Will Begin Fall Quarter Classes
Sept. 24 at UC San Diego

September 8, 2009

By Pat JaCoby

Due to budget cuts imposed on the University of California system, estimated undergraduate enrollment for the fall quarter at UC San Diego is expected to remain relatively unchanged from last year’s 28,500 students.

Christine Hurley, director of Institutional Research, noted that “because of budget restrictions we have stepped back from our growth plan and are expecting 550 fewer freshmen—3,740 this fall as compared to 4,295 last year. But an increased continuing student population,” she said, “should keep us at the same undergraduate level.”

“Additionally,” Hurley said, “we are expecting 1,860 new transfer students and 1,175 new graduate students, for an estimated total student enrollment of 28,500 on campus when classes begin Sept. 24. The official count, however, is recorded three weeks after the quarter begins.”

The freshmen bring with them an average high school grade point average (GPA) of 3.96 and SAT test scores of 601 reading; 655 math, and 615 writing. The transfer students are entering UC San Diego with an average college GPA of 3.41.

Included in the total enrollment are an estimated 814 new international students, representing 58 countries—up seven percent from the preceding fall. Nearly 1,000 UC San Diego students are planning to study abroad in 2009-10.

More than 115 Welcome Week events are planned for new students beginning Sept.18 and continuing through Sept. 26. Topping activities is the Welcome Convocation and Dinner at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 22 at RIMAC Field, during which Larry Smarr, professor of Computer Science and Engineering, will give the faculty address. Alejandra Sotelo-Solis, ’01, National City vice mayor and City Council member, will serve as alumna speaker.

Other Welcome Week activities range from the spirited Triton Power Hour pep rally Sept. 21 at RIMAC to the six-college UnOlympics competition at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 23 on the North Campus track field.

A total 11,260 students, faculty and staff will live on campus this coming year, including 1,060 transfer students in new Village apartments featuring an array of green innovations. Mark Cunningham, director of UC San Diego’s Department of Housing, Dining and Hospitality, said this includes 8,647 undergraduates, 2,312 graduate professional students, and 301 faculty and staff housed on campus.

The incoming students will find the UC San Diego campus living up to its reputation as one of the greenest in the country as they encounter “Econauts” who will suggest ways to reduce the campus carbon footprints, and dining halls featuring locally grown organic food, fair trade products and cage-free eggs.

Several construction projects adding to the student/campus culture were completed this spring and will be ready for full use in the fall quarter. These include the $126 million North Campus Transfer Housing (Phase 1), the $55 million Conrad Prebys Music Building, the $50 million Mayer Hall Expansion and Renovation, the $16 million Robert Paine Scripps Forum and the $10 million RIMAC Annex.

Cranes and flagmen throughout the campus signify projects currently under construction including the $221 million Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center, the $98 million North Campus Transfer Housing (Phase 2), the $67 million Health Sciences Graduate Housing, and the $25 million Housing and Dining Administration Building.

Media Contact: Pat JaCoby, 858-534-7404 or pjacoby@ucsd.edu