UC extends deadline for transfer students

College students who hope to transfer to a University of California campus next fall will have additional time to turn in their applications, the university announced Tuesday.

The university said transfer applications for the 2016-17 school year will be accepted until Jan. 4, extending the original deadline that passed Monday.

UC officials recently said they hope to boost the number of California residents enrolled at its campuses and will expand its undergraduate enrollment by 10,000 over the next three years. The university hopes to add 5,000 undergrads next year.

“The University of California proudly enrolls more community college transfer students than any other university of its caliber,” UC President Janet Napolitano said in a news release. “Giving transfer students more time to file their applications will help hard-working, eligible students across the state make their way to a UC campus next fall.”

Nearly one in three UC students attend community college before graduating from the University of California. The university has set a goal of enrolling at least one new transfer student for every two new freshmen.

State lawmakers have criticized the university in recent months for admitting more high-paying out-of-state students at the expense of California high schoolers. Under the plan to expand enrollment, the UC would receive $25 million set aside in this year’s state budget if it enrolls 5,000 more Californians by the 2016-17 academic year. Two additional increases of 2,500 spots would follow in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein has said the enrollment expansion would occur at every campus.

UC Merced, the system’s newest campus, is planning to boost its enrollment and double the size of its campus’ footprint over the next five years. The 2020 Project, approved by the Board of Regents last month, will add housing, classrooms, laboratories and other facilities to accommodate a total enrollment of 10,000 students and about 400 permanent employees. UC Merced now has about 6,600 students.

Brice W. Harris, chancellor of California Community Colleges, welcomed the extended deadline for students hoping to transfer to a UC school.

“We wholeheartedly support the University of California’s commitment to admit more community college transfer students, and this deadline extension will expand the pool of qualified applicants from our system,” Harris said. “UC research shows that our transfers do as well as, or even better than, students who entered a UC campus as a freshman.”

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 3:44 PM with the headline "UC extends deadline for transfer students."