Asian and Pacific Islander students applying to the University of California now have the option of 23 different categories to mark for ethnicity.

Previously, the admission application featured eight groups for Asian American and Pacific Islanders to select for their ethnicity. The UC Office of the President added the categories in order to document data, such as tracking graduation and retention rates, regarding specific Asian groups. Ethnic data is optional to mark on the application and is not used in the admission process.

The new listing for Asian Americans includes Chinese, Asian Indian, Japanese, Pakistani, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Hmong, Thai, Cambodian, Laotian, Bangladeshi, Indonesian, Sri Lankan, Malaysian, Taiwanese and Other Asian.

The Pacific Islander choices – previously listed as one combined category – will now include Native Hawaiian, Guamanian/Chamorro, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian and Other Pacific Islander.

The change resulted from requests from UC faculty for more diverse research information, legislative concern and a “Count Me In” campaign, featuring thousands of UC students who protested the university’s limited Asian categories.