UCLA Acceptance Rates (2026)

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is one of the most sought-after colleges in the United States. With UCLA’s 2025 acceptance rate hovering around 9.4%, it is also among the most competitive schools in the country. Getting accepted to the UCs takes more than just strong grades; it takes a foolproof strategy and a bit of healthy hustle (which we discuss in our beloved UC Guide). In this blog, we’ll break down UCLA’s acceptance rates, including in-state, out-of-state, transfer, and major-specific.

Key Takeaways:

• Acceptance rate figures for UCLA have not been released for the Class of 2030. 
• UCLA remains highly competitive, with an overall acceptance rate in 2025 is 9.4%, a slight increase from the 9% the college has recorded in recent years. 
• Although UCLA’s general acceptance rate sits at 9.4%, your odds of acceptance are better or worse depending on the type of application you’re submitting. UCLA’s in-state, out-of-state, and transfer admission rates all differ considerably, ranging from 9% and 23%. 
• Likewise, acceptance rates at UCLA vary drastically across majors. Programs such as Nursing (0.9%) and Film and Television (1.1%) are some of the most competitive programs, while certain music majors, such as Ethnomusicology (72%), are much higher. 

UCLA Acceptance Rate

UCLA’s acceptance rate for 2025 hovers around 9.4%, a small increase from the previous year. Those interested in UCLA can’t be surprised by the single-digit admit rate, especially with an ongoing decline over the last few years.

Even though UCLA has yet to release its complete dataset for the most recent Class of 2030 admissions cycle, historical data and the most recent number of applications received are pointing to another year of broken records. For 2026, UCLA reported 146,672 applications received, a whopping 1.1% increase from the previous year. 

In later sections of this blog, we’ll discuss why admission rates have dropped so significantly since 2020 and how students can navigate these competitive waters.

UCLA Out-of-State Acceptance Rate

The University of California is a public research university. Unlike Ivy League institutions, Stanford, and MIT, the UCs receive much of their funding from California tax dollars. For this reason, the UCs have a long history (and laws) prioritizing California applicants over out-of-state or international students.

This doesn’t mean that out-of-state students are necessarily at a disadvantage, but they definitely are evaluated differently from California students, from their differing curricula and grading systems to their extracurricular opportunities. However, as shown in the graph below, UCLA's out-of-state acceptance rate for 2025 is 9.1%.

UCLA In-State Acceptance Rate

The chart below highlights UCLA's in-state acceptance rate between 2020 and 2026, with UCLA's most recent in-state acceptance rate sitting at 9.6%

Is it Easier to Get into UCLA as an Out-of-State Applicant?

At face value, one might look at UCLA's in-state and out-of-state acceptance rates and believe that getting accepted to UCLA is easier for out-of-state or international students. The truth? It's harder to get accepted to UCLA as an out-of-state applicant.

Why? We interviewed Joel Ontiveros, former Assistant Director of Admissions at UCLA and Collegewise Counselor, to learn more about why out-of-state acceptance rates are higher:

"The UCs are companies. They have to hit budget, and one way to do that is enrolling out-of-state and international students. But they also can't lower the standards. Any UC that admits an out-of-state student must show that the student is performing at the same level or higher than the in-state students they're admitting. So more often than not, the applicant pool for out-of-state students is much more competitive than in-state."

UCLA Transfer Acceptance Rate

Although still selective, UCLA’s transfer admissions process is more manageable than taking the first-year route. For this reason, many students consider transferring to a UC, especially if they were not admitted out of high school.

UCLA’s transfer acceptance rate is 22.8% for 2025, with 6,466 of the 28,301 applicants accepted. While the university reported another record high number for transfer applications (30,645 to be exact), admissions data for 2026 have yet to be released.

"I think the UC transfer process will become the standard process in the next 5 to 10 years. I'm talking to sophomore families who are already saying, 'We want these UC campuses, but if we don't get in, we're willing to go with the transfer process.' More and more families are realizing it's actually the more affordable option, the way the student becomes more independent and knows exactly what they want for their academic major," says Joel Ontiveros, former Assistant Director of Admissions at UCLA and Collegewise Counselor.

Factors Influencing UCLA’s Acceptance Rates (In-State and Out-of-State)

Increase in Applications Submitted & Limited Seats Available

Many colleges, including UCLA, found themselves in a unique situation during COVID. After announcing their test-blind policy, they unintentionally lowered the admissions threshold, and many students, who historically would have been rejected due to poor SAT/ACT scores, could now apply to UCLA with better acceptance odds.

What did this lead to? An uptick in applications received and an overall interest in UCLA. What students did not anticipate was that although UCLA was becoming increasingly more popular, it still only had a limited number of students it could admit in a year. So, with the rise in applications, but the number of available seats on campus remaining the same, the acceptance rate took a sharp dip in 2022 and has yet to return to its pre-COVID levels.

Institutional Priorities (California vs Non-California)

We’ve already touched on this factor in the previous section, but it’s worth revisiting. The UCs are known to prioritize California residents over out-of-state or international students. In practical terms, if UCLA only has a limited number of seats and 75% of those are reserved for Californians, that means students from outside the state or abroad must compete for just the remaining 25%.

California students will be pleased to know that there has been a shift in institutional priorities this year following recent pressures set out by the White House. The UCs admitted a record-breaking 100,947 first-year California students, the largest in their history, marking a more than 7% increase from 2024. However, much of that enrollment goes to UC Merced and Riverside, while UCLA reportedly admitted 2.4% fewer Californians in 2025.

Why are the UCs changing enrollment and institutional priorities in 2025?

• The UCs are addressing the public’s demand to increase California enrollment following their tuition increases for in-state students.
• The UCs are fighting against layoffs, budget cuts, and deferrals in state funding, all of which can interfere with the institutions' ability to run their campus efficiently.
• Following the 2023 affirmative action Supreme Court ruling (see our Affirmative Action Guide for more insights), the UCs continue to prioritize campus diversity, focusing on enrolling students from marginalized backgrounds, first-generation students, and community college transfers.

Related: Unpacking Harvard’s Legal Action: What the International Student Ban Could Mean

UCLA Acceptance Rates by Major

UCLA Schools and Acceptance Rates

Not every school part of UCLA’s campus considers a major during the admissions process for first-year students. Of the 6 schools within UCLA, the College of Letters and Science is the only one that does not require major declarations.

Below is a chart of UCLA’s acceptance rate by school:

More insights on UCLA’s first-year acceptance rates by major.

Easiest Majors at UCLA & Acceptance Rates

The easiest majors and where students have the best odds at acceptance based on admit rates at UCLA include Ethnomusicology, Musicology, World Arts and Cultures, Music Performance, and Global Jazz.

Hardest Majors at UCLA & Acceptance Rates

The most competitive and highly selective majors include Nursing, Film and Television, and Engineering.

Who gets into UCLA?

Getting into UCLA isn't as straightforward as many students think. Despite UCLA's clear admissions requirements, students are expected to exceed the minimum requirements, given how competitive the applicant pool is. 

What separates students from those who get accepted and those who do not can be linked back to how they present themselves in the qualitative sections of the application. Many students are underutilizing these sections and focusing their time only on academics. 

"Students should spend more time on the activity section. That's what I'm noticing as a counselor. The activity section is the most critical piece in today's admissions process. Building out the descriptions, utilizing up to 20 activity boxes, that is the one thing students could spend significantly more time on in the UC application,"  says Joel Ontiveros, former Assistant Director of Admissions at UCLA and Collegewise Counselor

Final thoughts

The pathway to UCLA isn't straightforward, but that doesn't mean that students don't stand a chance. Collegewise has proudly helped 3,000+ students gain admission to UCLA, UC Berkeley, or other competitive UC campuses. Throughout high school, students should take the time to build out a well-rounded college application, taking into consideration the qualitative pieces of the application just as much as the quantitative ones. 

For students interested in more comprehensive, end-to-end University of California admissions support that helps students with:

• Developing strong PIQ responses along with editing and expert suggestions
• Strategic advice on the activities and award sections
• Major selection and college admissions management
  

To learn more about our University of California admissions support for students in grades 9-12, schedule a free consultation with us.