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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 09, 2002
University of California Office of the President
Media Contacts:
Lavonne Luquis
(510) 987-9194
lavonne.luquis@ucop.edu
Hanan Eisenman
(510) 587-6194
hanan.eisenman@ucop.edu
UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENT ENROLLMENT INCREASES AT UC LAW
AND MEDICAL SCHOOLS
pdf version
The proportion of underrepresented students enrolled at the
University of California's law and medical schools increased
significantly this year. Better recruitment, strong graduate
outreach programs and the declining cost of housing in the
San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles are believed to have
helped drive the enrollment gains for African American, American
Indian and Chicano/Latino students.
"We are greatly encouraged to see the positive trend
in enrollment of underrepresented minorities," said Michael
V. Drake, the University of California vice president for
health affairs. "These results indicate that our efforts
to increase the attractiveness of our programs to an ever-widening
pool of applicants are beginning to show success."
At UC's five medical schools, an enrollment of 94 underrepresented
students accounts for 16.5 percent of the first-year class
of 2002, compared with 11.9 percent in 2001, when there were
68 such students. The medical schools, at UC Davis, UC Irvine,
UCLA, UC San Diego and UC San Francisco, collectively had
a first-year class enrollment of 570 students.
The 125 underrepresented first-year students enrolled at
UC's three law schools account for 16.2 percent of their class,
up from 11 percent in 2001, when 90 underrepresented students
enrolled. The law schools, at UC Berkeley, UC Davis and UCLA,
enrolled a combined total of 772 first-year students this
year, compared with 817 new students enrolled in 2001.
Underrepresented enrollments at UC's law and medical schools
still lag those registered before the passage of state Proposition
209, when their proportion was consistently greater than 20
percent.
While the number of underrepresented students admitted to
the law schools increased by 10 percent in 2002, the number
of these students enrolling went up 39 percent. Stepped-up
recruitment efforts helped increase the proportion of underrepresented
students accepting admissions offers at the schools this year.
UC's outreach programs also appear to have played a key role.
The medical schools have postbaccalaureate reapplicant programs
for students who were not admitted the first time they applied.
The year-long programs offer an opportunity to take additional
courses, participate in academic skills-building seminars
and workshops on preparing for the MCAT exam and to gain a
better understanding of the medical school application and
interview process. The programs target students from educationally
or economically disadvantaged backgrounds as well as those
planning to work in areas of California that are medically
underserved.
Additionally, the medical schools provide after-school science
enrichment programs to local elementary and middle schools
and Saturday academies or summer programs to high school students
thinking about careers in the health sciences.
The law schools also have a variety of outreach programs.
UCLA law school has a fellows program that includes law school
faculty instruction, workshops and presentations from local
attorneys, plus academic preparation, skills building, counseling,
test preparation and mentorship. UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall
has a two-year-old prelaw advisors program that includes presentations,
a mock application review and a question-and-answer session
with the school's dean. At UC Davis, the King Hall outreach
program is designed to help students complete their bachelor's
degrees, succeed on the LSAT and enter law school. The UC
law schools also offer street law programs in several high
schools.
The enrollment figures cited above are preliminary and subject
to change as final data are tabulated.
For more statistical information on graduate applications,
admissions and enrollment, please visit:
http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/datamgmt/lawmed/
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