UC San Diego’s enrollment hitting record 38,798

ollege enrollment has been sliding nationally, but you wouldn’t know it to look at UC San Diego.

The campus added nearly 2,200 students this fall, pushing enrollment to a record 38,798, a figure that’s far higher than campus executives expected.

Enrollment has soared by about 10,600 over the past decade, making UC San Diego one of the fastest growing schools in the country.

The boom has been fueled by population growth in California, and the state’s success in preparing high school students to enter college. The University of California system also has been recruiting more transfer students.

UC San Diego was expected to expand this fall. The UC has been guiding students to its San Diego and Irvine campuses, which have lots of room to expand.

But UC San Diego officials recently announced that they had under-estimated demand. About 1,200 more freshmen than anticipated enrolled this fall. The boom forced the university to squeeze extra students into university housing.

Relief is about two years away. The campus only recently began building a $627 million complex that will add 2,000 beds for students, as well as faculty and classroom buildings.

UC San Diego and the University of California Board of Regents have struggled to accurately forecast growth.

In 2004, the university came up with a long range plan that called for expanding the school’s enrollment to 29,900 from roughly 25,000. The Regents reviewed and approved the proposal.

But UC San Diego quickly hit that number and has continued to experience rapid expansion. This is the sixth consecutive year that the university has reported enrollment.

Over the summer, the campus sent the Regents a new proposal that calls for expanding enrollment to 42,400 by 2035. The plan will go before the board next month.

If the university continues growing at its current rate, it could blow past 42,400 within a couple of years.