University of California-Davis

Davis, CA · Public · 32,253 undergrads (large, suburb) · website ↗

25% Hispanic undergrads
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	$9,211
$30,000 – $48,000	$9,966
$48,000 – $75,000	$11,951
$75,000 – $110,000	$16,294
Over $110,000	$31,272
All incomes (average)	$14,741

Sticker tuition and fees: $16,774 in-state, $50,974 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-Davis'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	$20,437
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$15,957
Books and supplies	$1,463
Other expenses, on campus	$6,962
Other expenses, off campus	$7,691

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

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (6,292 of them) in 2022–23; 58% 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	51%	$21,258
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	25%	$5,506
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	47%	$10,174
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	22%	$4,290

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: 42%
Average SAT: —
Median ACT: —
Students with Pell grants: 31%
Graduation rate (6yr): 86%
Freshman retention: 93%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $80,838
Median debt at graduation: $13,000
International undergrads: 4,157 (13.1%)

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: 22 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 88%
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	Required
Recommendations	Not considered
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: 94,637
Admitted: 39,400
Enrolled: 6,578

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.

Biology & Life Sciences18%

Social Sciences13%

Psychology10%

Engineering9%

Business6%

Agriculture6%

Computer Science5%

Visual & Performing Arts5%

Mathematics & Statistics4%

Environmental Studies4%

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 (62)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Research and Experimental Psychology	966	$36,942	$57,378national $55,695	$11,500
Biology, General	487	$38,522	$68,120national $57,214	$11,500
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	483	$61,462	$86,155national $86,176	$11,838
Economics	432	$51,106	$83,248national $82,686	$10,500
Neurobiology and Neurosciences	387	$37,311	$63,720national $62,451	$12,500
Animal Sciences	324	$37,118	$48,441national $49,634	$12,860
Communication and Media Studies	301	$45,174	$72,778national $56,359	$11,000
Political Science and Government	297	$43,173	$67,759national $63,293	$12,680
Design and Applied Arts	291	$38,255	$62,209national $51,490	$12,592
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	258	$44,789	$65,983national $55,012	$12,653
Sociology	256	$40,934	$59,171national $52,657	$11,000
Statistics	234	$58,819	$88,033national $92,425	$11,000
Cognitive Science	188	$43,678	$68,463national $81,496	$15,000
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology	172	$46,241	$70,754national $65,466	$11,036
Mechanical Engineering	151	$81,149	$102,161national $92,135	$12,060
English Language and Literature, General	143	$37,793	$59,012national $48,590	$13,500
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies	125	$40,510	$58,670national $51,710	$11,000
Nutrition Sciences	124	$33,659	$64,519national $60,053	$13,000
History	123	$34,893	$57,734national $50,680	$11,083
Computer Engineering	122	$94,722	$145,422national $109,015	$12,093
Civil Engineering	113	$76,288	$95,939national $86,517	$12,302
International Relations and National Security Studies	108	$42,448	$67,056national $66,596	$12,000
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	107	$78,729	—national $100,647	$14,883
Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management	91	$35,913	$46,209national $45,338	$11,823
Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences	85	$48,363	$66,461national $62,172	$12,917
Applied Mathematics	85	—	$65,508national $91,532	$11,000
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	83	$78,047	$98,504national $93,451	$8,854
Microbiological Sciences and Immunology	81	$48,169	$74,343national $62,582	$12,090
Film/Video and Photographic Arts	81	$31,184	$57,999national $43,765	$12,800
Genetics	79	$47,413	$77,411national $66,076	$14,666
Chemistry	73	$51,548	$73,365national $65,120	$11,000
Fine and Studio Arts	73	$28,396	$40,453national $41,367	$12,250
Mathematics	71	$49,163	$72,640national $69,562	$10,743
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	70	$38,187	$60,797national $55,000	$11,363
Biotechnology	70	$50,718	$87,406national $67,097	$14,899
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering	67	$75,453	$93,414national $98,207	$13,113
Anthropology	64	$34,545	$56,836national $46,676	$11,730
Food Science and Technology	63	$53,279	$70,571national $70,873	$7,000
Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration	62	$46,715	$73,595national $116,539	$13,250
Computer and Information Sciences, General	58	$91,845	$138,673national $92,374	$11,000
Philosophy	55	$32,373	$58,633national $54,455	$15,400
Chemical Engineering	54	$80,469	$102,649national $98,158	$12,224
Physics	45	$46,391	$78,569national $76,786	$16,233
Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences	34	$45,719	—national $66,697	$12,918
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services	33	$32,260	$58,443national $49,984	$12,000
Plant Sciences	31	$45,345	$72,335national $56,567	—
Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology	30	$43,806	$62,011national $48,842	$15,245
Agricultural Production Operations	29	$47,880	$58,236national $53,588	$10,265
Public Administration and Social Service Professions, Other	29	$48,985	$69,702national $61,630	$12,018
Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering	27	$72,558	—national $81,171	$11,083
East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	25	$33,051	$60,939national $51,642	—
Marine Sciences	19	$43,512	—national $52,667	—
Area Studies	16	$31,701	—national $56,625	—
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	16	$31,185	$56,823national $39,775	—
Materials Engineering	14	$87,472	$89,983national $91,449	—
Pharmacology and Toxicology	14	$53,953	$63,567national $68,883	—
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences	10	—	$73,337national $60,190	—
Religion/Religious Studies	6	—	$59,448national $41,390	—
Engineering, General	0	$79,111	$114,228national $89,359	—
Psychology, Other	0	$40,976	$60,257national $50,748	$9,911
Social Sciences, Other	—	$53,181	$68,535national $56,812	—
Business/Managerial Economics	0	—	$87,455national $77,981	—

Master's degrees (17)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	439	$129,249	—national $124,807	$108,371
Education, General	91	$59,838	$70,796national $65,824	$20,500
Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other	63	$133,325	$138,731national $81,651	$188,575
Civil Engineering	58	$88,734	$106,894national $98,323	—
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	55	$132,441	$145,917national $133,654	—
Mechanical Engineering	45	$135,707	$121,768national $115,974	—
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General	41	$135,536	$137,579national $78,149	$131,500
Public Health	31	$59,221	$79,807national $82,751	$27,372
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	29	$67,655	—national $74,607	$20,500
Security Science and Technology	16	$55,533	$84,479national $82,399	—
Fine and Studio Arts	16	$45,609	$44,735national $49,079	—
Food Science and Technology	13	$62,805	—national $88,332	—
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	2	$151,866	$163,702national $120,193	—
Computer and Information Sciences, General	—	$150,872	—national $124,201	—
Research and Experimental Psychology	—	—	$62,626national $63,216	—
Business Administration, Management and Operations	0	—	$155,416national $103,485	—
Accounting and Related Services	0	$81,133	$108,771national $95,833	—

First professional degrees (4)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Law	242	$101,884	$136,814national $107,773	$130,500
Veterinary Medicine	146	$121,533	—national $131,316	$149,894
Medicine	115	$77,214	$144,130national $112,460	$133,762
Veterinary Biomedical and Clinical Sciences	0	—	$149,260national $148,496	—

Doctoral degrees (7)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Chemistry	43	$82,769	$111,674national $115,386	—
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology	26	$113,133	$108,451national $112,683	—
Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology	25	$78,590	$85,764national $97,173	—
Educational Administration and Supervision	20	$145,161	$130,291national $100,573	—
Physics	20	$84,486	$141,034national $130,153	—
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	7	—	$104,113national $81,822	—
Research and Experimental Psychology	—	$69,843	$106,855national $103,410	—

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 166 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616-8678
Phone: (530) 752-1011
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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