More and more students are identifying as transgender and other similar categories in California’s public universities, new data shows. 

A significant transformation is underway within the University of California (UC) system, marked by a notable surge in the percentages of undergraduate students who present themselves as “transgender” or “non-binary,” as revealed by data covered by the San Francisco Chronicle.

“Transgender,” “nonbinary,” and “gender nonconforming” students made up 0.6 percent of the UC student body in 2019, but in 2023, they constituted 1.9 percent of the student population, with most of those in the category calling themselves “nonbinary.”

UC Berkeley saw a notable surge from 0.2 percent of students identifying as one of the previously mentioned categories in 2019 to 1.8 percent in 2023, and UC Santa Cruz had the highest proportion of “nonbinary” students at 4 percent and transgender students at 1.1 percent within the system.