LOS ANGELES, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- The University of California (UC) faces a real serious problem in terms of inequitable educational outcomes for students of different races, a report said on Sunday.

Among the universities and schools attached to the UC system, UC Irvine (UCI) is a case in point, with its freshman class being about 2.3 percent black, reflecting a trend in which the number of African Americans at public universities in Southern California is dropping, according to the Orange County Register.

Out of nearly 5,000 freshmen at University of California in Los Angeles this fall, only about 95 are black -- the lowest number in decades, said the report.

UC San Diego is projected to enroll only 52 black freshmen, or 1.1 percent of the class; UCI, only 122, or 2.3 percent of its freshman class.

The numbers reflect a widening gulf between the percentages of Latino and black students graduating from high schools and the percentage of those students who ultimately enroll in a UC school,the Register reported.

While the state grows more diverse, UC's student body is becoming more white and Asian-American.

"This issue, the unfortunate continuing decline of diversity within the university, has reached a crisis point that diminishes the quality of our education," Manuel Gomez, UCI's vice chancellor for student affairs, told the newspaper.

Gomez, the son of a migrant worker, is a member of a UC task force convened last month to look at the issue. He said Proposition 209, the voter-approved initiative that bans race-based hiring and public university admissions in California, prevented UC from doing more to enroll blacks and Latinos.

Under the state's master plan for education, the UC system was designed to educate the top eighth, or 12.5 percent, of the state's high school graduates. But not all high schools are producing enough students who fulfill UC eligibility requirements, the Register reported.

"California has a real serious problem in terms of inequitable educational outcomes for students of different races," Ricardo Vasquez, spokesman for the UC system, told the newspaper. "Only 6.5 percent of Latino public high-school graduates are eligible for UC, compared to 6.2 percent for African-Americans, 16.2 percent for whites and 31.4 percent for Asians." Enditem