As the Fall 2011 UC application deadline approaches, campuses across the University are bracing for another year of increased attention from community college students looking to transfer.

Over 12,300 transfer students applied to UCSB last year — representing an increase of more than 3,000 students in the last four years. Of those applicants, the university admitted 6,392 transfer students, 1,591 of whom enrolled.

According to Director of Admissions Christine Van Gieson, UCSB enrolled a modest number of students last year in order to balance the high number of transfer students — 1,871 transfers — who were admitted in fall of 2009.

Van Gieson also said the university will enroll approximately the same number of transfers as it did the previous year.

“Our enrollment in 2011 should be about the same as what we enrolled for 2010,” Van Gieson said. “It has yet to be set in stone though.”

Additionally, she said UCSB has experienced an increased number of transfer applications over the last three years.

“The number of transfer students applying to UCSB has increased dramatically,” Van Gieson said. “It has been on the rise in the last few years.”

UC San Diego received the highest boost in transfer applications in the last two years, from 8,606 applications in 2008 to 10,067 the following year. UC Irvine, on the other hand, enrolled the most transfer students. The campus admitted 1,203 transfer students during fall 2008 and 1,605 the next year.

Van Gieson attributed the boost in transfer applicants to various factors, including rising UC student fees and stricter admissions requirements.

“I think transferring from a [junior college] to a four-year college allows many students to enroll who never would have been able to go to a UC out of high school,” Van Gieson said. “For many of them it is because of financial reasons, or they were not ready right away.”

Furthermore, 28 percent of transfer students admitted to UCSB last year had previously attended SBCC and another 29 percent of transfer students came from 11 other community colleges.

UC spokesperson Leslie Sepuka said the University plans to increase its system-wide enrollment of transfer students across the board.

“The president is dedicated to increasing transfer,” Sepuka said in an e-mail. “For two years in a row UC has increased our target of new transfers by 500 students each — enrolling 1,000 additional transfer students over two years. This year we’re hoping to enroll about 14,000 new transfer students.”

Furthermore, UCSB Visitor Center employee Justin Chen, a third-year business economics and philosophy major, said transfer student admissions rates do not impact freshmen enrollment.

“Being a transfer student does not affect the number of freshmen admitted to UCSB,” Chen said. “They are independent numbers.”

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