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A record high nearly 49,000 high school seniors, prospective transfer students and others applied to study at the University of California, Davis, for fall 2008 -- a 15 percent increase over fall 2007.

A total of 48,653 students applied to ºÙºÙÊÓƵ, compared with 42,311 applicants for fall 2007. There are 40,568 applicants for freshman status this fall, a 15.6 percent increase from last year's 35,088 and the largest percentage gain in freshman applications among UC's nine undergraduate campuses.

A total of 8,085 applicants are seeking to transfer from another college or university, for an 11.9 percent increase from last fall's 7,223.

The overall percentage gain in applications was 15 percent, second only to Merced, at 15.4 percent, among the UC campuses.

Applicants from traditionally underrepresented groups account for more than 21 percent of domestic freshman applicants and almost 19 percent of domestic transfer applicants from a California community college. Last year, they accounted for about 19 percent in each applicant group.

"We are happy and proud of the growing popularity of the ºÙºÙÊÓƵ campus and the increased diversity and quality of our applicants," said Pamela Burnett, director of Undergraduate Admissions at ºÙºÙÊÓƵ. "We believe these gains reflect, in addition to increases in the state's college-age demographics, greater public awareness of ºÙºÙÊÓƵ through additional efforts we began three years ago."

Systemwide, UC unduplicated applications are up 9 percent overall, from 110,994 for fall 2007 to 121,005 for fall 2008. A total of 95,201 students applied for freshman status, for a 9.2 percent increase over last year's 87,213. Among transfer applicants, there was an 8.5 percent increase, from 23,781 last year to 25,804.

For 2008, the California Department of Finance projects an increase of 3.2 percent among graduates from California public high schools.

Freshman applicants by ethnicity

A total of 37,705 California high school students applied for freshman status at ºÙºÙÊÓƵ in 2008, compared with 32,901 for fall 2007. Those from traditionally underrepresented groups -- African American, American Indian and Chicano/Latino -- increased 27.7 percent.

For fall 2008, they account for 21.2 percent, or 8,010, of all California high school applicants, compared with 19 percent for students who applied to study at ºÙºÙÊÓƵ for fall 2007.

All but one ethnic group experienced increases this year: African American, from 1,242 last year to 1,541 this year, or 24.1 percent; Asian American, from 11,239 to 12,232, or 8.8 percent; Chicano/Latino, from 4,811 to 6,260, or 30.1 percent; Filipino American, from 1,476 to 1,634, or 10.7 percent; and White/other, from 12,371 to 13,894, or 12.3 percent.

The number of American Indian applicants decreased from 217 last year to 209 this year, or 3.7 percent.

Students for whom an ethnicity is missing increased from 1,545 to 1,935, or 25.2 percent.

Transfer applicants

A total of 6,234 domestic applicants are seeking to transfer from a California community college this year, compared with 5,691 last year. Those from traditionally underrepresented groups account for 18.8 percent of the domestic applicants, compared with 19.2 percent last year.

Those groups with increases this year include: African American, from 222 last year to 224 this year, or 0.9 percent; Chicano/Latino, from 816 to 893, or 9.4 percent; Asian American, from 1,797 to 2,109, or 17.4 percent; and White/other, from 2,223 to 2,367, or 6.5 percent.

The number of American Indian applicants remained unchanged at 53, and applications from Filipino Americans decreased from 212 to 197, or 7.1 percent.

Students for whom an ethnicity is missing increased from 368 to 391, or 6.3 percent.

Offers of admission

Applicants will be notified of admission decisions beginning in mid-March.

Burnett encourages applicants to beat the rush by creating their MyAdmissions account now so they can easily check the status of their application online at .

Statistics for the UC system are available at .