Students who have sent in their Statements of Intent to Register (SIRs) for UC Santa Barbara’s fall 2006 entering freshman class include more members of underrepresented minority groups than ever before in UCSB’s history. In addition to its diversity, the entering class will be distinguished by its academic quality.

The campus has received deposits and SIRs from 4,299 of the 21,279 applicants who were admitted. Of all domestic respondents expected to register who indicated their racial or ethnic backgrounds, 41.2 percent, or 1,770, are members of minority groups. The 1,106 members of underrepresented minority groups—African Americans, American Indians, and Chicanos and Latinos—account for 25.7 percent of the entering class.

The SAT examination was changed substantially for students applying to enroll in fall 2006. Applicants now must take the SAT Reasoning Test, which is made up of three sections: reading, mathematics, and writing (as opposed to two sections, math and verbal, in the past). The average total on the required SATR Test of the applicants planning to enroll at UCSB was 1746 out of a possible 2400.

The average high school grade point average was 3.80. Last year’s average for students who submitted SIRs was 3.82.

Chancellor Henry T. Yang has attributed the campus’s success in attracting a highly qualified and very diverse entering class to the “determined efforts of many people and every department” on the campus.

Said Christine Van Gieson, director of admissions: “We are delighted that so many of these highly talented students accepted our invitation, and we look forward to welcoming them to campus in September.”

Although deposits have been received from 4,299 students, UCSB expects to enroll about 4,100, when classes begin, or about 300 more than last year.