Most California families assume the University of California is harder to get into if you live out of state. For two campuses that is true. For five others, the opposite was true in fall 2025: out-of-state freshman applicants were admitted at much higher rates than Californians. At UC Davis, 63% of out-of-state applicants were admitted, compared with 37% of California residents. At UC Irvine it was 47% versus 22%.
Fall 2025 freshman admit rates by residency
| Campus | California residents | Out-of-state | International | Out-of-state in 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Davis | 37% | 63% | 56% | 80% |
| UC Irvine | 22% | 47% | 42% | 74% |
| UC Santa Barbara | 32% | 55% | 48% | 36% |
| UC San Diego | 25% | 39% | 29% | 59% |
| UC Santa Cruz | 71% | 84% | 72% | 81% |
| UC Riverside | 87% | 89% | 82% | 83% |
| UCLA | 9.6% | 11% | 6.3% | 14% |
| UC Berkeley | 14% | 10% | 5.8% | 14% |
| UC Merced | 96% | 84% | 80% | 70% |
What the numbers show
Out-of-state applicants did better at Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara, San Diego and Santa Cruz. The gap was largest at UC Irvine (47% vs 22%) and UC Davis (63% vs 37%). At UC Santa Barbara, 55% of out-of-state applicants were admitted against 32% of Californians.
Berkeley and Merced are the exceptions. UC Berkeley admitted 14% of Californians and 10% of out-of-state applicants; UC Merced 96% and 84%. At UCLA the two were close (9.6% vs 11%).
The gap has been narrowing at some campuses. In 2021, UC Davis admitted 80% of out-of-state applicants, UC Irvine 74% and UC San Diego 59%. By 2025 those had fallen to 63%, 47% and 39%. Santa Barbara went the other way, from 36% to 55%.
Why would out-of-state students get in more often?
UC does not publish a single explanation, but one reason is visible in its own data: far fewer out-of-state admits actually enroll. At UC Davis, 21% of admitted Californians enrolled in fall 2025, compared with 4.8% of admitted out-of-state students. At UC Irvine it was 26% versus 5.8%. Out-of-state students pay supplemental tuition and usually have other options, so a campus that wants a given number of nonresident students has to admit many more of them. Admit rates also say nothing about how strong each applicant pool is.
Nonresident enrollment at UC is also limited by policy, and the share of out-of-state and international students who actually enroll remains far below that of Californians. A higher admit rate does not mean out-of-state students take seats from Californians one for one.
Transfers: the reverse
For transfer students, Californians have a large edge at every campus. Systemwide, 71% of California transfer applicants were admitted to at least one UC in fall 2025, compared with 36% of out-of-state transfer applicants. At UCLA it was 23% versus 11%, and at UC Davis 57% versus 22%. UC gives priority to transfer students from California community colleges.
What it means for applicants
- For California students, the campus admit rate you see quoted (which mixes all residencies) can overstate your odds at Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara and San Diego. Use the California-resident rate.
- For out-of-state students, UC Riverside, Santa Cruz, Merced and Davis admitted most applicants in 2025; Berkeley and UCLA admitted about one in ten.
- Look up any campus on our UC acceptance rates by residency pages, or see the out-of-state trend at every campus.
Source: University of California, UC Information Center, undergraduate admissions summary, fall 2021–2025. ScoreCalc is independent and not affiliated with the University of California. Admit rates describe past applicants, not any individual student’s chances.
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