APPLICATIONS SOAR FOR ADMISSION TO UC.

Byline: Staff and Wire Reports

Paced by UCLA, the University of California system is seeing a boom in applications.

Overall, applications from California students for freshman admission increased from 54,146 to 58,424, an increase of 4,278 students, or 7.9 percent.

That is more than double last year's 2.5 percent increase in applications and may be due to a combination of a new program guaranteeing eligibility to students in the top 4 percent of their class as well as expanded state financial aid, said Dennis Galligani, associate vice president for student academic affairs.

As of the end of January, UCLA received 40,500 applications for the fall 2001 freshman class. That number is up 7.6 percent from last year's 37,623 applications that the university received, according to a UCLA statement.

``I'm astounded by the degree of continued interest in UCLA, and I'm delighted that we are seeing an increased interest from all ethnic and racial groups,'' said Rae Lee Siporin, director of Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools.

In the California State University system, applications at CSUN are also climbing, said Ludim Seja de Manzano, director of Outreach and Recruitment for the campus.

Before the Nov. 30 application deadline passed, nearly 11,000 high school seniors applied for admission for the fall 2001 semester, compared with 9,900 the previous year. Transfer applicants from community colleges, who have until this summer to apply, now number about 4,800, compared with 3,300 at the same time last year, Seja de Manzano said.