SANTA CRUZ - UC Santa Cruz is continuing to be more picky about who gets in as it looks for ways to deal with reduced state funding.

The university announced Wednesday that it accepted 64.9 percent of freshman applicants for the fall, which is down from 83 percent in 2007 and 74.3 percent in 2008 and in line with the acceptance rate of 63.7 percent in 2009.

UCSC wants to establish a trend of slightly smaller and higher caliber freshmen classes. The goal is to begin the new school year with 3,200 freshmen, Admissions Director Michelle Whittingham said. By comparison, the 2008 fall class had 3,900 freshmen and 2009 had 3,214.

The decision to shrink the freshman class, Whittingham said, is largely due to reduced education funding from the cash-strapped state, which has grappled with a $20 billion budget crisis for the past three years.

"This is a very competitive cycle, and we're looking to decrease our numbers," Whittingham said. "There's been a