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🎓 College profile

University of California-Berkeley

CA · Public · Mid-size city · 125,910 applicants 2023

Land-grant R1 Research
12% admit rate $34,529/yr at $110k+ income

🧭 A parent's read

  • Built for the AI economy. Top 7 in the country. About 1 in 9 degrees here is already in AI, computer science, or data fields; its AI research output ranks #7 among US universities. This campus is leaning into the shift, not waiting for it.
  • The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer Science grads from here earn about $204,379 four years out; fine and studio arts grads about $51,699 — a 4.0× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
  • The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 5× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$45,619/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$92,446/yr) still runs about 5× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
  • Kids finish — on time. 93% graduate in four years. Nationally, barely half do — and a fifth year elsewhere quietly adds $30–70k to the real price. On-time completion is the most underrated ROI number in this decision.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

Get your child's odds at University of California-Berkeley Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price. University of California-Berkeley starts already on the list. Start →

🎯 Parent/student verdict

Reach

Highly selective reach for nearly every applicant. Affordable for in-state families — net price averages ~$13,481/yr.

✅ Best for

  • Strong overall academic profile (avg admit unweighted GPA 3.90 per CDS — school is test-blind, so scores aren't part of the decision at all — the transcript carries the weight)
  • Students drawn to Social Sciences or Computer & Information Sciences (the two biggest majors)
  • Research-oriented students (R1 — top tier of federal research funding)
  • Students who thrive in a large, programmatic environment

🎯 The reality

  • Bottom-quartile academic profile if: unweighted GPA below 3.70 (admitted-class quartiles per the school's own data)
  • Test-blind — scores aren't considered at all, so transcript GPA, course rigor, and essays do all the work
  • With selective universities, build a balanced college list of Reaches, Targets, and Safeties ⓘ
  • Out-of-state tuition is 3.1× the in-state rate

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
R1: Doctoral - Very High Research Activity
Total enrollment
33,068
20,000 and above
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid — common above ~$110K income — pay this, minus any merit scholarships.
$16,347
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$50,547
+$34,200 vs in-state
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
11.7%
Highly selective
Test policyScores aren't considered at all, even if sent — the UCs are the big example. Grades and course rigor carry the weight.
Test-blind
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$92,446
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

🎓 High-school GPA

3.90 avg unweightedGPA on the plain 4.0 scale, no honors/AP bonus. When a college publishes an "average admitted GPA of 3.9," it's often this scale — don't compare it to a weighted 4.3. GPA, admitted students

Admitted 3.90 unweighted · 4.31 weighted

unweighted 4.0 scale and weighted (school-reported). Common Data Set 2024-25 ↗

As published by the college in its Common Data Set / admissions data (2024-25) — independently verified 2026-07-23 (source linked above). GPA basis (weighted vs. unweighted vs. 4.0-scale) varies by college and is labeled above.

📊 Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$74,919
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$92,446
4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
93%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$13,000

💰 The real cost

What families at your income actually pay

Above $110K income — where most Reach families sit — aid-receiving families average $34,529/yr at University of California-Berkeley; families who don't qualify for aid pay the full ~$45,619/yr. Lower brackets pay less — the full ladder is below. One caveat, once: every bracket figure here averages only the families in that bracket who received aid — it says nothing about whether your family will qualify.

🔎 Earning over $110K? You're above the top federal bracket — the median family headed by a 45-to-54-year-old (the prime college-parent years) earned about $134K in 2024, and the federal data lumps everyone from $110K to $1M+ into one row.

Whether you'll get need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats. at this income is entirely college-specific: a few heavily-endowed schools meet full need well past $150K, while many others give little above the brackets shown — there, merit scholarships, where offered, become the realistic lever.

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Your odds + estimated net price across your whole college list — then confirm the exact figure with University of California-Berkeley's own Net Price Calculator ↗ (10–15 min; have your tax return handy).

Family income $110k+ most Reach families
$34,529/yr
Family income $75-110k
$15,074/yr
Family income $48-75k
$9,693/yr
Family income $30-48k
$6,501/yr
Family income $0-30k
$5,311/yr

📈 The payoffTen years of typical earnings divided by four years of cost. A 3× means a decade of median pay covers the cost three times over — check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you., both ways

5.1× at full price 17.1× with aid
Full price, no aidThe all-in yearly price — tuition, housing, food, books, fees — before any aid. This is the real "full price," not just the tuition line. (4 yrs, in-state)
$182,476
~$45,619/yr all-in (out-of-state runs higher)
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$53,924
$13,481/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$924,460
$92,446/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
2.0 yrs
at full price (0.6 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (NPT41–NPT45; Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates; suppressed brackets = small cohorts; the $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — the brackets haven't been refreshed since the early 2010s). Payoff multiple = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (4-yr cost); full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at University of California-Berkeley

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what University of California-Berkeley actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Social Sciences
1,686 degrees · 30.2%
Economics + poli sci sub-disciplines pay much more than sociology + anthropology.
2. Computer & Information Sciences
1,394 degrees · 24.9%
High-paying tech roles dominate. Median software roles cluster in the $90k-$130k range.
3. Engineering
1,128 degrees · 20.2%
Engineering majors land high-paying technical roles. Top-earning sub-disciplines: petroleum, chemical, computer engineering.
4. Biological & Biomedical Sciences
920 degrees · 16.5%
Many bio majors → med school / grad school. Direct-employment bio roles are lower-paid than that pipeline.
5. Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
462 degrees · 8.3%
Often paired with another field (data + biology, design + tech). Outcomes match the second discipline.

💼 What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — University of California-Berkeley's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Computer Science. Bachelor's Degree 848 $149,866 $204,379
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 528 $137,295 $200,543
Business Administration, Management and Operations. Bachelor's Degree 409 $90,008 $144,599
Operations Research. Bachelor's Degree 71 $88,685 $138,883
Economics. Bachelor's Degree 799 $80,446 $135,050
Statistics. Bachelor's Degree 123 $83,227 $133,986
Chemical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 104 $81,553 $121,027
Cognitive Science. Bachelor's Degree 230 $64,559 $120,193
Mechanical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 189 $88,497 $119,371
Applied Mathematics. Bachelor's Degree 254 $71,814 $118,414

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

📈 Student body & economic mobility

Who attends here — and what the campus adds.

Opportunity Insights data. Why it matters even if you're full-pay: a high mobility rate means the campus itself confers earnings power — the outcomes aren't just selection effects.

Top-1% access
4.7%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
4.9%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
55.2%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
29%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

Alternatives to University of California-Berkeley

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

🏆 Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
University of Chicago
IL · Private nonprofit
1 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
University of Southern California
CA · Private nonprofit
5 competitive merit scholarships
Vanderbilt University
TN · Private nonprofit
4 competitive merit scholarships
💰 Lower full price
Similar selectivity, but a meaningfully lower full sticker price — the comparison that matters most for families who won't qualify for much need-based aid.
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
FL · Public
$23,970/yr full price (in-state) · $21,649 less before aid
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
NC · Public
$26,055/yr full price (in-state) · $19,564 less before aid
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
GA · Public
$28,167/yr full price (in-state) · $17,452 less before aid
🛡️ Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
University of California-San Diego
CA · Public
24% admit rate (vs 12% here)
University of California-Irvine
CA · Public
26% admit rate (vs 12% here)
University of California-Santa Barbara
CA · Public
28% admit rate (vs 12% here)
🚀 Stronger campus value-add
Per Opportunity Insights, these campuses add more earnings power to the students they enroll than University of California-Berkeley does — a quality signal, not a cost play.
University of California-Los Angeles
CA · Public
5.6% mobility rate (vs 4.9% here)

⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side

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