The representation of Chicanx/Latinx students among incoming UC Berkeley undergraduates is now at record levels. During the mid- to late-1980s, the representation grew rapidly, peaking in 1990 at 18% of incoming students. Changes in campus and state policies in the 1990s led to sharp declines -- with the implementation of Proposition 209 in 1998 leading to the lowest percentage of incoming Chicanx/Latinx undergraduates (8%) in fifteen years. Over the next two decades, the representation of Chicanx/Latinx undergraduates slowly increased. Gains in recent years have come as UC Berkeley works to become a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).
The representation of Chicanx/Latinx public high school graduates in California who are eligible to attend the University of California (UC) or the California State Universities (CSU) has steadily grown over the past few decades to record levels of 45%, much higher than new Chicanx/Latinx enrollment at UC Berkeley.
Before Proposition 209 took effect in 1998, the gap between the representation of Chicanx/Latinx high school graduates eligible for UC/CSU and incoming Berkeley undergraduates was around 5% -- just above parity. The gap jumped to 12% after Proposition 209 took effect, and it has been trending up since then. The gap in 2019 (the most recent year available for California high school graduates) was 28%, tying the record for the highest it's ever been.
All data sourced from UC Berkeley Cal Answers and CDE Dataqest