The University of California, Irvine has posted its 2025-26 Common Data Set on the website of its institutional research office: in fall 2025, the university received 124,231 first-year applications, admitted 35,964 students, and enrolled 6,421. Irvine families researching colleges often find conflicting admit rates and cost figures across websites; the Common Data Set is filled out by the university itself under shared definitions, and knowing how to read it saves a great deal of cross-checking.
The Common Data Set: What It Is
The Common Data Set (CDS) is not a survey but a set of standard data items and definitions. According to the introduction to the CDS template, the standard was developed by higher education data providers together with publishers including the College Board, Peterson’s, and U.S. News & World Report, so that guidebooks and rankings draw on data reported the same way while colleges avoid filling out the same figures repeatedly. The template also encourages colleges to post their completed answers on their own websites.
The Common Data Set page of the UC Irvine Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning (IRAP) lists files for nine academic years, from 2017-18 through 2025-26; the most recent one is a PDF.
What the Common Data Set Means for Irvine Families
Seniors are finalizing their college lists, and juniors are starting their research. The CDS is useful for three reasons:
- Consistent definitions: every college answers the same question under the same item number. C1 is always applications, admits, and enrollees; H2 is always need-based aid. Comparing two colleges means comparing the same item numbers.
- Figures come from the college: third-party websites often repeat data secondhand without clear years, while every page of the CDS is labeled with its academic year.
- Blanks carry information: an item a college leaves empty often means that factor does not apply there, as the UC Irvine test score section shows.
The CDS has ten sections: A, general information; B, enrollment and persistence; C, first-time, first-year admission; D, transfer admission; E, academic offerings; F, student life; G, annual expenses; H, financial aid; I, instructional faculty and class size; and J, degrees conferred by discipline. For families of first-year applicants, sections C, B, and H matter most.
Section C of the Common Data Set: How UC Irvine Admits First-Year Students
Item C1 breaks down applications and admits by residency. The admit rates in the table below are calculated from the C1 counts:
| Residency | Applied | Admitted | Enrolled | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California residents | 86,230 | 18,922 | 4,870 | 21.9% |
| Out-of-state | 16,381 | 7,784 | 472 | 47.5% |
| International | 21,620 | 9,258 | 1,079 | 42.8% |
| Total | 124,231 | 35,964 | 6,421 | 28.9% |
The admit rate for California residents is clearly lower than the overall rate, so Irvine families estimating their chances should read the in-state row. The share of admitted students who enrolled (the yield) was 17.9%.
Item C2 covers the waiting list: for fall 2025, UC Irvine offered a waitlist place to 12,967 applicants, 5,738 accepted a place, and 5,737 were eventually admitted.
Item C7 lists how much weight each factor carries. UC Irvine rates rigor of the secondary school record, academic GPA, the application essay, extracurricular activities, talent and ability, volunteer work, and work experience as “very important”; character and personal qualities as “important”; and first-generation status, geographical residence, and state residency as “considered.” Class rank, standardized test scores, recommendations, the interview, alumni relation, and the applicant’s level of interest are “not considered.”
Item C8 states that SAT and ACT scores are not used for admission or scholarship decisions, although they may be used after admission for class placement or to satisfy certain graduation requirements. The test score ranges in C9 are therefore empty. The high school GPA distribution in C11 and C12 is also blank, so families looking for GPA ranges need to consult the official University of California admissions data pages instead.
Items C13 through C22 cover application policies: the application fee is $80 and can be waived; the fall application closing date is November 30; decisions are sent by March 1; admitted students must reply by May 1; and the university offers neither Early Decision nor Early Action.
Sections B and H of the Common Data Set: Graduation and Cost
Item B22 reports first-year retention: of the 6,707 full-time first-year students who entered in fall 2024, 6,265 were still enrolled in fall 2025, a retention rate of 93%.
Items B4 through B21 report graduation rates. Of the fall 2019 entering cohort, 6,051 students after adjustments, 4,521 graduated within four years and 5,251 within six years, a four-year graduation rate of about 74.7% and a six-year rate of about 86.8%.
Item H2 reports need-based aid, which UC Irvine labels as 2025-26 estimates. Of 6,404 full-time first-year students, 4,687 applied for need-based aid and 2,902 were found to have financial need. On average, aided students had 85.9% of their need met; the average aid package was $30,774, including an average need-based grant of $26,853; and 790 first-year students had their need fully met.
The 2026-27 costs in Section G were not yet final when the file was completed; the university noted that they were expected on July 1 and provided the address of its net price calculator.
EDUBUS Recommendations for Reading a Common Data Set
Check the academic year first. The UC Irvine file is the 2025-26 edition, and its admission figures describe students entering in fall 2025. The earlier EDUBUS brief UC Irvine Fall 2026 Admit Rate Was 30.3% draws on a different University of California dataset for a different year, so the two figures cannot be compared directly.
Compare colleges item by item. Placing C1, C7, B22, and H2 for several target colleges in one table is clearer than any ranking. For colleges that do not post a CDS, the federal College Navigator can fill the gap.
California residents should read the in-state row. The UC Irvine in-state admit rate of 21.9% is about seven percentage points below the overall rate, so the overall figure should not be used to estimate an Irvine student’s chances.
Use C7 to decide where to spend effort. UC Irvine rates essays and extracurricular activities as very important and does not consider test scores, so applicants to colleges like this should invest more time in the personal insight responses and activity descriptions. Support for balancing reach, match, and likely colleges is available through the EDUBUS College Admissions Planning service, and the differences between early plans are explained in Early Decision vs. Early Action: Which Are Binding.
Sources
- UC Irvine IRAP: Common Data Set (accessed October 7, 2026)
- UC Irvine IRAP: Common Data Set 2025-2026 (PDF) (accessed October 7, 2026)
- Irvine 2026-27 School Profiles: Five Things to ReadFour IUSD high schools have posted 2026-27 School Profiles, which counselors send to colleges: a comparison and the five sections parents should read.
- AP Scores 1 to 5: Official Meaning, School Pass RatesCollege Board defines an AP 5 as extremely well qualified and a 3 as qualified, each with a matching college grade. How Irvine families should read school pass rates.
- NCES College Navigator: Free Official College DataNCES College Navigator publishes admissions, cost, retention and graduation data for U.S. colleges, so Irvine families can compare schools on raw figures.
- IUSD Enrollment: Boundaries, School Choice, TransfersIUSD assigns students by home address and also offers a secondary school choice process and interdistrict transfers; Irvine families should check early.
