When classes begin today, a record student body of 27,432 is anticipated at UC Davis - up 1,338 or 5.1 percent from last fall's 26,094.

Total undergraduate enrollment is expected to rise by 1,228. About 4,475 new freshmen, drawn from a record pool of 27,953 applicants, likely will register by the start of classes. That's 136 more than last fall.

An estimated 900 of the 1,875 new transfer students, from a record applicant pool of 6,560, will have participated in the Transfer Admission Agreement program with 71 community colleges throughout the state.

Upper-division students will make up 57.4 percent of the undergraduate student body this year.

New graduate and professional students are expected to increase their ranks by 53, for a total of 3,610. Health science enrollments should increase by 8, to 2,015, and enrollments in the Working Professional MBA program by 36, to 299.

Here's a snapshot of what this fall's students are finding as they arrive this week:

Course availability

As of Sept. 17, most students were able to enroll in 12 or more units, from 88 percent of freshmen to 82 percent of seniors.

Students needing to pick up additional courses to complete their schedules will find a variety of open course sections and classroom seats. Currently, about 600 sections with some 12,500 seats are available within the College of Letters and Science.

"Our faculty and staff continue to work hard to provide students with the courses they need and the outstanding educational experience for which the Davis campus is known," said Fred Wood, associate dean of the college. "By carefully monitoring enrollments, anticipating demand and strategically investing instructional resources, the campus has been able to meet the challenge of the substantial enrollment growth we are experiencing," he added.

Openings exist in introductory courses, such as calculus and an innovative Web-based statistics course. Waiting lists are in effect for such high-demand courses as general chemistry and organic chemistry, but the expectation is that nearly all, if not all, of the students seeking to enroll will be accommodated.

Courses in the social sciences continue to be very popular. Many introductory and advanced courses are full, but there are openings in a limited number of sections and courses.

English composition courses for fall are full, but Wood said he expects that winter quarter offerings of the same courses will be able to accommodate fall's unmet demand.

Introductory level courses in most foreign languages are full, although a few openings may be found in German and Hebrew. As in the past, students may request "simultaneous enrollment" to enroll in a course at another college when its equivalent at UC Davis is full. For example, students electing to study introductory Spanish might choose to enroll in a comparable course at Sacramento City College until the more advanced course is available at UC Davis.

New academic programs

New academic programs enrolling students for the first time this fall include:

• a natural sciences undergraduate major that allows students to take all the science courses required for a science teaching credential;
• master of science programs in viticulture and enology, cell and development biology, and forensic science; and
• a veterinarian scientist training program, which allows students to complete both a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and a doctorate in seven years, rather than eight or more years.

In addition, a Master of Arts program in international commercial law for summer study only began this summer.

Fees and Financial Aid

Undergraduate students who are California residents will pay $4,594 this school year, and resident academic graduate students will pay $4,831.

Between 55 percent and 60 percent of the undergraduate student body is expected to be receiving some form of financial aid. So far, aid totaling $89 million - in loans, grants, work study and scholarships - has been awarded to about 11,000 undergraduates for 2001-''02. The average indebtedness of a new bachelor's degree graduate totals about $12,000 to $15,000.

Housing

Student Housing will accommodate an increased number of freshmen - about 4,050 total - in existing facilities by offering fewer single rooms and some additional triple rooms.

Planning is underway to build a larger dining commons and additional housing for 380 students in the Segundo area for 2003. This fall, the campus will begin planning for an addition to the dining commons and an additional 500 beds in the Tercero area.

Building Construction and Renovation

The campus is in the midst of its biggest building boom in at least 13 years. Projects worth well over $800 million are now in planning, design or construction. Among them:

• The $39.6-million plant and environmental sciences building north of Veihmeyer Hall is scheduled to be completed in spring 2002. The 125,000-square-foot building will replace aging Hoagland and Hunt halls and provide lab and office space for the agronomy and range science and the land, air and water resources departments.
• The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts is scheduled to be completed for the 2002 season. The $53-million center will include a 1,800-seat main hall and a studio theater for up to 250 people.
• Construction began this summer on the $95 million Genome and Biomedical Sciences Building. Located in the Health Sciences Complex, the building is scheduled to be completed in summer 2004.
• Ground will be broken this year for the $56.7-million Sciences Laboratory Building east of Briggs Hall. The building, scheduled for completion in spring 2005, will house classrooms, labs and a 500-seat lecture hall.
• Planning continues on student recreation facilities being supported by an increase in student fees passed by students in 1999. The projects include a student activity and recreation center, an aquatic center and a multi-use stadium.

Parking and Transportation

Beginning Wednesday, stack parking will be in effect in five parking facilities including the North Entry Parking Structure and lots 10 (First and A streets), 15 (California Avenue), 41 (south of the Life Sciences Addition) and 45 (south of the Fire/Police Building). Stack parking was implemented in the latter two facilities to make up for spots lost from Lot 28 due to the construction of the Sciences Laboratory Building.

Two more electric vehicle charging stations are available on campus, for a total of 12.