The University of California released statistics yesterday about the number of freshmen who will be attending the nine undergraduate UC campuses in fall 2006.

According to this year’s figures, the UC system admitted a total of 152,477 prospective students, 36,951 of which submitted their Statements of Intent to Register. Statistics on transfer students are not yet available.

UCSB accepted 21,183 applicants, while 4,289 of these submitted a SIR. The number of accepted students increased from last year by 1,450 and the number of students who submitted SIRs increased by 251.

Paul Desruisseaux, associate vice chancellor for public affairs, wrote in an e-mail that this year’s figures are distinguished by a greater number of underrepresented minorities. He said 41.2 percent of respondents expected to register are members of a minority group.

The average high school grade point average for newly admitted freshmen is 3.80, which is slightly lower than last year’s 3.82 average, Desruisseaux said. However, the figure surpasses the average GPA of currently enrolled students, who on average had a 3.76 GPA upon admission from high school.

Desruisseaux said it is difficult to compare this year’s SAT scores to those of previous years due to changes that have been made in the examination.

This year, the SAT included three sections – math, writing and reading – and was based on a 2400-point scale, as apposed to the 1600-point scale of previous years. The average SAT score for admitted UCSB students this year was 1746.

UCSB Director of Admissions Christine Van Gieson said she was pleased with the newest group of freshmen.

“We are delighted that so many of these highly talented students accepted our invitations to attend UCSB,” Gieson said. “We look forward to welcoming them to campus in September.”