UC San Diego again blows past enrollment goal

For the third straight year, UC San Diego underestimated fall enrollment, which surged to nearly 40,000, further cramping a campus that’s in the midst of one of the largest expansions to hit a California university in decades.

Enrollment rose to 39,634 — a figure that’s 836 higher than last fall, according to data released Thursday by the campus.

Chancellor Pradeep Khosla told the Uniontribune earlier this year that he hoped enrollment would increase by no more than 300 to 500 so that the campus would have time to absorb the billions of dollars of expansion that it has carried out. Billions more are planned.

Over the past decade, enrollment soared by 10,524, partly because the University of California system has been diverting students to La Jolla, which has room to grow. A larger percentage of California’s high school graduates have been meeting eligibility requirements for the UC, and UCSD is a natural and popular outlet.

The UC also opened its doors wider to out-ofstate and international students, who pay higher tuition, helping the system make up for the deep cuts the state made to public universities, especially after the Great Recession.

In fall 2008, UC San Diego had 1,621 international students, who made up 6% of the school’s enrollment. In fall 2018, the university had 8,792 foreigners, who represented 23% of enrollment.

The surge was fueled by China, which sent 5,573 students to UC San Diego last fall, making the campus one of the 10 largest schools for international students in the country.

The university won’t release its fall 2019 international figures until next week. But it appears that Chinese enrollment will grow again — bucking a national trend. Many universities say applications from China have declined because students are worried about the political and economic tension between the U.S. and China.

UCSD is hoping to avoid a downturn.

“As state funding for UC has dwindled, nonresident undergraduate revenues help maintain the quality of programs for all our students,” UCSD told the Union-tribune in a statement this week.

“(They) pay nearly $30,000 more than California-residents in supplemental student tuition ... This includes things like recruiting and retaining high-quality faculty, launching additional courses that help lower class sizes and offer undergraduates research opportunities alongside faculty.

“It also allows capacity to increase access to library collections, renew instructional equipment and more. Tuition paid by nonresident undergraduates (also) contributes over $25 million toward financial aid received only by eligible California residents. That translates to over $2,000 that goes to every California student with a UC grant.”

Elizabeth Simmons, UCSD’S executive vice chancellor, told the Union-tribune that, “We are delighted that so many students are joining us this fall. As a studentcentered university, we are taking several steps to keep up with our growing population ... We just announced new efforts that will support the success of our transfer students. This will include a Transfer Success Hub offering specialized advising, streamlined access to campus resources, professional development, peer coaching and tailored transer student engagement experiences.”

Keeping up with the demand of out-of-state and international students has proven to be a challenge for UCSD. In fall 2017, the university had to scramble to find housing for about 400 students because it misjudged enrollment. And last fall, the campus had to do the same for roughly 1,200 students when a similar mistake was made.

“That was an anomaly; we weren’t expecting it,” Khosla said last fall. “We need to be a little more measured and controlled.”

Two weeks ago, it appeared that UCSD would hit its target. The campus estimated enrollment at about 39,000. But Thursday’s figures proved to be much higher, and it’s likely that UCSD will hit or surpass 40,000 next year.

All of the students who qualified for housing this fall have been accommodated, the university said on Thursday night.

On one level, Khosla embraces growth.

“Part of the reason (is) the state expects it,” he told the Union-tribune in May. “And I had a vision where we could grow. But I think that at some point we have to both slow down the growth and then saturate.” That appears unlikely. On Oct. 24, the campus will break ground on an Innovation and Design complex that will be the first piece in a much larger effort to create a grand entrance to UCSD. Then in November, the university will break ground on a massive engineering center that will eliminate the thing people say the want the most — adequate parking.

The expansion is making people dizzy.

“Students are happy, but it is ridiculous how crowded it is here,” said Ella Chen, editor-in-chief of the Triton, a campus newspaper. “The line for food at Panda Express goes down the hallway. It’s the same at Subway. And the campus just took away more parking at Hopkins. “It’s just insane.” Despite record demand, SDSU’S enrollment stays flat for the third straight year

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