UC Riverside has again registered big strides in meeting California’s transfer student threshold, according to numbers released July 11 by the University of California Office of the President.

UCR has admitted a total of 33,218 students for fall 2018, including 24,993 freshmen and 8,225 transfer students. It’s an increase over 31,067 admissions for fall 2017.

Since 2016, the number of transfer students admitted – primarily from California community colleges –- has climbed from 6,298 to 8,225. That’s a key number for UCR, given the state’s mandate that UCs enroll one transfer student for every two freshmen.

Two years ago, UCR’s ratio of freshmen students to transfers was 4.5 to 1. In the 2018-19 academic year, UCR is expected to reach 2.4 to 1.

“UCR is very excited to welcome this new cohort of transfer students and proud that students are choosing to further their education at our campus,” said Cynthia K. Larive, provost and executive vice chancellor.

Systemwide, admission of California Community College transfer students grew by 8 percent over fall 2017.

UCR’S freshman acceptance rate went from 57 percent in fall 2017 to 51 percent in fall 2018.

The systemwide admissions numbers show increases in offers to students from historically underrepresented groups and among California freshmen and transfers who would be the first in their families to graduate from a four-year college, or 46 percent of the total. Systemwide, among freshman applicants, Asian American students remained the largest ethnic group admitted at 36 percent, followed by Latinos at 33 percent, whites at 22 percent, and black students at 5 percent. American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and applicants who did not report a race or ethnicity made up the remainder of admitted students.

UCR admitted more African American students than any university in the UC system.

UCR’s Chicano/Latino representation held strong at 34 percent of students admitted, while the percentage of Asian American students admitted to UCR increased for the second consecutive year, from 41 to 44 percent.

UCR admitted 14,919 first-generation college students, the most of any UC school. Riverside also admitted the most low-income, Pell Grant-eligible students among the nine UC undergraduate campuses, with 13,612 freshman and transfer students.

The university will release its fall 2018 enrollment numbers in December 2018.