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🎓 College profile

University of California-Davis

CA · Public · Small suburb · 94,637 applicants 2023

Land-grant R1 Research
42% admit rate $31,272/yr at $110k+ income

🧭 A parent's read

  • The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer Engineering grads from here earn about $145,422 four years out; fine and studio arts grads about $40,453 — a 3.6× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
  • Built for the AI economy. About 1 in 22 degrees here is already in AI, computer science, or data fields; its AI research output ranks #36 among US universities. This campus is leaning into the shift, not waiting for it.
  • The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 5× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$41,238/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$80,838/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. 86% 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-Davis Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price. University of California-Davis starts already on the list. Start →

🎯 Parent/student verdict

Match

Solid match for academically prepared students. Affordable for in-state families — net price averages ~$14,741/yr.

✅ Best for

  • Students drawn to Biological & Biomedical Sciences or Social 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

  • Out-of-state tuition is 3.0× 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
32,253
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.
$16,774
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$50,974
+$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.
41.6%
Moderately 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.
$80,838
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

4.03 avg weighted GPA, enrolled first-years

Enrolled first-years 4.03 weighted

weighted (school-reported, can exceed 4.0). UC Davis Common Data Set 2025-2026 (Budget & Institutional Analysis), section C12 ↗

As published by the college in its Common Data Set / admissions data (2025-26) — 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
$58,461
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.
$80,838
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.
86%
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 $31,272/yr at University of California-Davis; families who don't qualify for aid pay the full ~$41,238/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.

Start your Family Decision Report →

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

Family income $110k+ most Reach families
$31,272/yr
Family income $75-110k
$16,294/yr
Family income $48-75k
$11,951/yr
Family income $30-48k
$9,966/yr
Family income $0-30k
$9,211/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

4.9× at full price 13.7× 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)
$164,952
~$41,238/yr all-in (out-of-state runs higher)
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$58,964
$14,741/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$808,380
$80,838/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
2.0 yrs
at full price (0.7 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-Davis

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

1. Biological & Biomedical Sciences
1,517 degrees · 31.8%
Many bio majors → med school / grad school. Direct-employment bio roles are lower-paid than that pipeline.
2. Social Sciences
1,145 degrees · 24.0%
Economics + poli sci sub-disciplines pay much more than sociology + anthropology.
3. Psychology
866 degrees · 18.2%
Most undergrad psych grads go into non-clinical roles. Clinical/counseling psych requires a master's or doctoral.
4. Engineering
741 degrees · 15.5%
Engineering majors land high-paying technical roles. Top-earning sub-disciplines: petroleum, chemical, computer engineering.
5. Business, Management, & Marketing
498 degrees · 10.4%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.

💼 What those majors earn here

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

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Computer Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 119 $96,418 $145,422
Computer and Information Sciences, General. Bachelor's Degree — $84,343 $138,673
Engineering, General. Bachelor's Degree 14 $82,956 $114,228
Chemical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 62 $68,337 $102,649
Mechanical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 166 $75,231 $102,161
Biomedical/Medical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 107 $68,419 $98,504
Civil Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 127 $75,165 $95,939
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 68 $71,633 $93,414
Materials Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 24 $74,110 $89,983
Statistics. Bachelor's Degree 239 $49,264 $88,033

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
2.7%
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.
4.4%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
51.8%
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.
31%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

Alternatives to University of California-Davis

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.
Auburn University
AL · Public
3 stats-based merit scholarships
Tuskegee University
AL · Private nonprofit
3 stats-based merit scholarships
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville
TN · Public
2 stats-based 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.
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College
NY · Public
$14,170/yr full price (in-state) · $27,068 less before aid
Texas A & M International University
TX · Public
$15,558/yr full price (in-state) · $25,680 less before aid
North Carolina A & T State University
NC · Public
$20,427/yr full price (in-state) · $20,811 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-Santa Cruz
CA · Public
62% admit rate (vs 42% here)
University of California-Riverside
CA · Public
63% admit rate (vs 42% here)
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
CA · Public
74% admit rate (vs 42% here)
🚀 Stronger campus value-add
Per Opportunity Insights, these campuses add more earnings power to the students they enroll than University of California-Davis does — a quality signal, not a cost play.
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College
NY · Public
12.9% mobility rate (vs 4.4% here)
Stony Brook University
NY · Public
8.4% mobility rate (vs 4.4% here)
Texas A & M International University
TX · Public
8.1% mobility rate (vs 4.4% here)

⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side

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