The UC system announced its largest enrollment ever for the fall 2025 semester, according to a Jan. 8 UC press release.UC Berkeley was no exception to this trend, enrolling more than 46,000 students for the first time in campus history.
Across the UC system, enrollment of California residents increased by 1,796 from the previous year. Increasing in-state enrollment is in line with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2022 compact with the UC system, where UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego were required to cap the number of international undergraduate students enrolled.
The UC system reported that in-state enrollment continued to rise, marking the 10th consecutive year of growth in California resident undergraduate enrollment. In the press release, the UC emphasized its commitment to serving California by continuing to expand access for “the most promising California students.”
Fall 2025 systemwide enrollment continues a multiyear trend of expanding student bodies across UC campuses. In general, enrollment growth was driven largely by increases in undergraduate students, while graduate enrollment also slightly increased across the UC system.
UC Berkeley received a record 126,798 applications for the class of 2029, according to a July 2025 press release. Campus made 787 additional admission offers to first-year students for fall 2025 compared to the previous admissions cycle.
In the past, UC Berkeley has faced enrollment restrictions — in 2021, an Alameda County judge ordered campus to freeze enrollment at 2020-21 levels until it assessed the environmental impacts of increasing enrollment. The court’s decision was eventually overturned when Newsom signed legislation that exempted student enrollment from triggering environmental impact reviews.
International student enrollment also increased at UC Berkeley, according to UC fall enrollment data. Campus enrolled 2,363 new international students this year, compared to 1,657 in 2024, across all degree programs.
In fall 2025, 6,011 international students were enrolled at UC Berkeley, a slight decrease from 6,053 in fall 2024.
National trends have shown a stagnation, or even decline, in international enrollment at many U.S. universities. International students from China, India, South Korea and Canada make up the majority of UC Berkeley’s international student enrollment this year.
“These numbers reflect California’s commitment to academic excellence, access, and innovation, values that have made the University of California the world’s greatest research university,” said UC President James B. Milliken in the Jan. 8 press release.