University of California-Berkeley

Berkeley, CA · Public · 33,068 undergrads (large, city) · website ↗

Test scores not considered
$80 application fee

What you'll actually pay

Average net price per year — tuition, fees, room & board minus grant and scholarship aid — for in-state students by household income.

Household income	Avg net price / year
Under $30,000	$5,311
$30,000 – $48,000	$6,501
$48,000 – $75,000	$9,693
$75,000 – $110,000	$15,074
Over $110,000	$34,529
All incomes (average)	$13,481

Sticker tuition and fees: $16,347 in-state, $50,547 out-of-state — before aid, from the same earlier College Scorecard release as the net prices above.

These are averages. For an estimate for your family, use University of California-Berkeley's own net price calculator — every college that takes federal student aid must publish one.

Net price calculator ↗

Other costs of attendance, 2025–26

The college's own estimate for a full-time undergraduate for the year, before aid, from the October 2026 College Scorecard. It is a newer year than the tuition and net prices above, so don't add the two together.

Housing and meals, on campus	$24,858
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$20,021
Books and supplies	$1,442
Other expenses, on campus	$8,078
Other expenses, off campus	$8,610

Grants and loans for first-year students, 2022–23

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (6,680 of them) in 2022–23; 61% got some kind of aid, loans included. Each average is over the students who received that kind of aid, not over everyone. It is an older year than the 2025–26 costs above.

Type of aid	Students awarded	Average amount
Any grant or scholarshipFederal, state, local and the college's own	50%	$25,951
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	24%	$5,626
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	46%	$14,826
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	20%	$4,463

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release); full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates; public domain.

Admissions & outcomes

Acceptance rate: 11%
Average SAT: —
Median ACT: —
Students with Pell grants: 29%
Graduation rate (6yr): 93%
Freshman retention: 97%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $92,446
Median debt at graduation: $13,000
International undergrads: 3,800 (11.5%)

For comparison, the median across all 1,596 four-year colleges on this site: graduation rate 56%, earnings ten years after entering $54,869, debt at graduation $23,250.

Admission policy, test scores and teaching

SAT/ACT policy: Not considered
Application fee: $80
Students per faculty member: 18 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 70%
Open admission: No

What the college considers in admission decisions, fall 2023

How the college said it used each item when deciding on first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking applicants for fall 2023. For SAT and ACT scores, see the fall 2024 policy above.

High school GPA	Required
High school class rank	Not considered
High school record	Required
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Considered if submitted
Recommendations	Considered if submitted
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Not considered
English proficiency test (for applicable students)	Required
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Not considered
Work experience	Considered if submitted
Personal statement or essay	Required
Legacy status	Not considered

First-time applicants: 125,910
Admitted: 14,677
Enrolled: 6,641

Counts of first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students, including early decision and early action. The acceptance rate higher up this page comes from a different College Scorecard release, so it may not match these counts.

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release), fall 2023; open admission from IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 (revised); public domain.

Most popular fields of study

Share of bachelor's degrees awarded.

Computer Science19%

Social Sciences17%

Engineering11%

Biology & Life Sciences9%

Environmental Studies5%

Mathematics & Statistics4%

Business4%

Physics & Chemistry3%

Psychology3%

Visual & Performing Arts3%

Earnings and debt by field of study

Median annual earnings of graduates who received federal student aid and were working, not studying: one year after completing (graduates of 2020–21 and 2021–22) and four years after (2017–18 and 2018–19), measured in 2022 and 2023 and shown in 2024 dollars. Median debt is federal Direct and Grad PLUS loans borrowed at this college by 2022–23 and 2023–24 graduates; it leaves out Parent PLUS and private loans. “National” is the median for the same field and credential across all US colleges.

Bachelor's degrees (52)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Computer Science	890	$161,143	$204,379national $107,009	$13,289
Computer and Information Sciences, General	841	$95,731	—national $92,374	$12,538
Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences	747	$49,561	$66,577national $66,697	$11,000
Economics	677	$88,608	$135,050national $82,686	$11,337
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	510	$154,713	$200,543national $100,647	$13,548
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	451	$56,111	$78,624national $55,012	$12,000
Business Administration, Management and Operations	425	$94,811	$144,599national $68,257	$10,656
Political Science and Government	403	$50,634	$75,128national $63,293	$12,412
Research and Experimental Psychology	359	$43,881	$64,904national $55,695	$11,032
Sociology	273	$48,113	$71,363national $52,657	$10,306
Communication and Media Studies	258	$52,119	$75,612national $56,359	$11,132
Cognitive Science	245	$62,757	$120,193national $81,496	$13,000
English Language and Literature, General	223	$37,602	$60,187national $48,590	$12,500
Mechanical Engineering	213	$95,340	$119,371national $92,135	$11,175
Non-Professional Legal Studies	205	$51,139	$70,636national $61,959	$12,812
Applied Mathematics	201	$85,411	$118,414national $91,532	$13,000
Public Health	186	$57,363	$76,572national $58,808	$11,000
Social Sciences, Other	162	$66,107	$101,138national $56,812	$13,081
Biology, General	160	$39,853	$79,163national $57,214	$12,000
Chemistry	135	$57,704	$82,386national $65,120	$11,137
History	133	$43,803	$64,755national $50,680	$12,000
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	124	$74,075	$110,597national $93,451	$13,180
Chemical Engineering	120	$89,950	$121,027national $98,158	$16,167
Fine and Studio Arts	118	$34,406	$51,699national $41,367	$11,800
Statistics	114	$84,849	$133,986national $92,425	$15,533
Civil Engineering	112	$84,461	$108,548national $86,517	$11,634
Physics	112	—	$96,043national $76,786	$13,911
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies	110	$47,245	$67,291national $51,710	$12,204
Architecture	109	$60,494	$76,679national $66,914	$13,156
Mathematics	102	$59,448	$80,654national $69,562	$13,955
Film/Video and Photographic Arts	101	$35,898	$70,963national $43,765	$12,979
Nutrition Sciences	95	$42,425	$79,391national $60,053	$11,677
Philosophy	91	$37,999	$63,326national $54,455	$12,208
Microbiological Sciences and Immunology	80	—	$103,546national $62,582	$14,935
Anthropology	79	$37,802	$64,359national $46,676	$11,310
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services	77	$28,857	$76,724national $49,984	$13,756
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other	77	$56,541	$87,791national $55,693	$15,000
Social Work	68	$51,615	$67,393national $51,790	$8,893
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	66	$48,575	$75,715national $55,000	$7,970
Area Studies	60	$56,036	$70,366national $56,625	$15,643
International/Globalization Studies	58	$55,375	$66,522national $59,972	$14,923
Music	58	$49,985	—national $42,892	$8,141
Operations Research	57	$95,812	$138,883national $122,531	$10,479
Astronomy and Astrophysics	51	$43,091	$90,943national $68,333	$18,600
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies	39	$57,788	$69,373national $48,471	$12,136
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	36	$43,297	$55,555national $39,775	$9,273
Classical and Ancient Studies	26	—	—national $50,477	$12,500
Urban Studies/Affairs	26	$70,981	$76,125national $62,532	—
Environmental Design	25	$56,599	—national $57,461	—
Landscape Architecture	25	$50,801	—national $66,387	—
Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution	0	—	$65,269national $63,114	—
Psychology, General	0	—	$62,835national $50,706	—

Master's degrees (12)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	583	$191,069	—national $124,807	$51,000
Public Health	322	—	$86,225national $82,751	—
Mechanical Engineering	200	$130,635	$147,475national $115,974	—
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	171	$162,352	—national $133,654	—
Architectural Sciences and Technology	90	—	—national $77,466	$100,196
Engineering, Other	74	—	—national $129,974	$55,500
Sustainability Studies	71	$80,761	—national $76,897	$41,000
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication	58	$58,617	$83,157national $75,972	$54,030
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	49	$65,726	$75,848national $59,916	$28,154
Statistics	42	$133,428	—national $123,816	—
Chemical Engineering	33	—	$114,034national $115,468	—
Educational Administration and Supervision	15	—	—national $71,685	$30,775

First professional degrees (13)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Law	408	$212,732	$226,996national $107,773	$166,278
Optometry	47	$92,704	$130,333national $131,525	$149,500
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	—	$71,140	$86,011national $80,429	$45,500
Architectural Sciences and Technology	—	$69,574	—national $72,699	—
Information Science/Studies	—	$174,454	$209,391national $208,216	$58,750
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	—	$93,706	$135,248national $143,657	$40,002
Mechanical Engineering	—	$109,013	$140,788national $144,680	$50,062
Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies	—	$98,688	—national $106,836	$96,297
Public Policy Analysis	—	$86,960	$113,884national $112,991	$55,589
Social Work	—	$75,613	$90,782national $64,950	$46,000
Social Sciences, General	—	—	—	$40,907
Public Health	—	$88,809	$109,806national $101,541	$53,000
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	—	$226,351	—national $180,735	$111,028

Doctoral degrees (6)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Chemistry	68	$75,344	$168,396national $115,386	—
Physics	40	—	$177,589national $130,153	—
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	36	$76,469	$100,702national $87,076	—
Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences	32	$65,504	$123,231national $99,578	—
Education, General	23	—	$130,547national $87,373	—
Sociology	14	—	$101,699national $88,618	—

Post-baccalaureate certificates (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Education, General	—	—	$67,451national $58,785	—

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 187 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 200 California Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720
Phone: (510) 642-6000
Institutional accreditor: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission

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Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts) and IPEDS Fall Enrolment for international student counts. College Scorecard, October 2026 release: net price calculator link, mission flags and religious affiliation (2025–26), enrolment shares, test policy, SAT/ACT ranges and student-to-faculty ratio (fall 2024), cost-of-attendance components (2025–26), and earnings and debt by field of study. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 for the application fee and the IPEDS 2024 directory for the phone number. IPEDS Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release) for admission requirements and first-time applicants, admits and enrolments (fall 2023). IPEDS Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release) for grants and loans to full-time, first-time students. All are U.S. Department of Education data in the public domain. Verify current costs and requirements with the school.

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