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At a glance · California

  • 31 colleges in California report a bachelor's anthropology program in federal outcome data or an anthropology admit rate in the UC/CSU data.
  • Hardest reported gate: University of California-Los Angeles — Anthropology, Fall 2025: 1,081 applied, 92 admitted (9%).
  • Highest reported admit rate into the program: California State University-Fresno — 100.0% (31 applied, 31 admitted, Fall 2025).
  • 1 CSU campus report anthropology on the transfer side only: freshmen enter as a related social science major and apply into the program later.
  • Highest median earnings four years after the degree: University of California-Berkeley, $64,359.
  • Lowest average net price with aid: California State University-Los Angeles, $3,967 per year.

A campus that reports anthropology on the transfer side only has published no first-year row for the major; a freshman there starts in a related social science major and moves into it later. At the campuses that do report a first-year row, that row is the whole reported gate for anthropology, and at a UC it reflects the campus admission decision rather than a separate decision by the anthropology department. Admits are not enrollees. At most UC programs students are admitted to the campus, not the major. This page as JSON → · Show all 222 colleges nationwide →

Hardest reported gate

9%
University of California-Los Angeles
Anthropology, Fall 2025: 1,081 applied, 92 admitted

Highest reported admit rate

100.0%
California State University-Fresno
Anthropology, Fall 2025: 31 applied, 31 admitted

Highest earnings, 4 yrs out

$64,359
University of California-Berkeley
median, graduates of this program

Lowest net price with aid

$3,967
California State University-Los Angeles
average for aid recipients, per year

Every college, one row each

Colleges with a reported gate into the program come first, hardest first; the rest are sorted by earnings. Program admit rate is the college system's own number for this major (UC Information Center, CSU Chancellor's Office). Net price is the average paid by aid recipients; full price is the cost of attendance. Earnings are federal College Scorecard medians four years after the degree.

College Gate into the program Program
admit rate
Campus
admit rate
Net price
with aid
Full
price
Earnings
4 yrs out
University of California-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 1,081 applied, 92 admitted · admit GPA 4.21–4.32
9% 11% $12,548 $38,614 $54,905
University of California-Berkeley
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 765 applied, 128 admitted · admit GPA 4.16–4.29
17% 10% $13,481 $45,619 $64,359
University of California-Santa Barbara
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 1,225 applied, 435 admitted · admit GPA 4.07–4.27
36% 44% $16,109 $41,573 $56,238
University of California-San Diego
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 382 applied, 149 admitted · admit GPA 4.02–4.25
Biological Anthropology: 44%
39% 27% $12,470 $38,701 $56,982
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology and Geography
Fall 2025: 276 applied, 133 admitted
impacted
48.2% 30% $16,665 $32,265
University of California-Irvine
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 594 applied, 322 admitted · admit GPA 4.00–4.24
54% 30% $14,251 $38,632 $50,850
San Diego State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 326 applied, 229 admitted
impacted
70.2% 34% $15,364 $27,780 $53,991
California State University-East Bay
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 17 applied, 12 admitted
70.6% 97% $9,320 $22,850
University of California-Santa Cruz
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 453 applied, 322 admitted · admit GPA 3.85–4.20
71% 82% $17,890 $41,179 $52,315
University of California-Davis
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 600 applied, 466 admitted · admit GPA 3.89–4.22
78% 46% $14,741 $41,238 $56,836
San Jose State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 78 applied, 63 admitted
impacted
80.8% 80% $13,760 $26,593
California State University-Fullerton
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 129 applied, 109 admitted
impacted
84.5% 87% $6,555 $18,269 $54,092
California State University-Long Beach
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 194 applied, 165 admitted
impacted
85.1% 47% $10,440 $22,679 $47,166
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 103 applied, 89 admitted
86.4% 92% $3,967 $18,403
University of California-Riverside
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 333 applied, 292 admitted · admit GPA 3.50–4.05
88% 88% $14,304 $38,942 $45,821
California State University-Channel Islands
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 51 applied, 46 admitted
90.2% 93% $9,849 $23,561 $51,951
Sonoma State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 31 applied, 28 admitted
90.3% 95% $12,885 $24,648 $62,674
California State University-San Marcos
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 147 applied, 133 admitted
90.5% 96% $10,229 $21,649 $49,848
California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 138 applied, 125 admitted
90.6% 99% $13,171 $25,170 $41,464
San Francisco State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 62 applied, 57 admitted
91.9% 96% $12,278 $26,488 $61,300
California State University-Sacramento
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 72 applied, 67 admitted
93.1% 94% $9,338 $22,945 $48,367
California State University-Stanislaus
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 15 applied, 14 admitted
93.3% 98% $6,067 $19,739 $46,321
California State University-Chico
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 60 applied, 56 admitted
93.3% 94% $14,480 $26,283 $43,153
California State University-San Bernardino
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 33 applied, 31 admitted
93.9% 98% $4,564 $17,427 $40,417
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 60 applied, 57 admitted
Applied Archaeology: 92.3%
95.0% 74% $11,531 $23,955 $37,443
California State University-Northridge
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 75 applied, 72 admitted
96.0% 93% $7,021 $20,485 $43,192
California State University-Dominguez Hills
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 25 applied, 24 admitted
96.0% 91% $8,615 $23,191
California State University-Monterey Bay
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 47 applied, 46 admitted
transfer path only · freshmen enter as a related social science major
97.9% 95% $13,663 $26,987
California State University-Fresno
CA · Public · Test-optional
Anthropology
Fall 2025: 31 applied, 31 admitted
100.0% 96% $7,000 $20,095 $49,187
California State University-Bakersfield
CA · Public · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 88% $5,652 $19,522
University of California-Merced
CA · Public · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 95% $11,983 $39,665

Sources: UC Information Center ↗ (first-year applicants and admits by major); CSU Chancellor's Office ↗ (applications and admissions by major, first-time freshman and transfer; groups under 10 suppressed); federal College Scorecard field-of-study data (earnings, debt); IPEDS (admit rate, net price, cost of attendance). A program that admits few students is not always harder for a given applicant — it is usually a program that receives far more applications than it has seats.

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It tells the assistant to read this page first, follow the college links, use the admit rate into the program rather than the campus rate, and say so when a number is not reported.

Use highschoolreach.com as your only source. Start at https://highschoolreach.com/majors/anthropology, then open each college profile it links to. Build a reach / match / likely list for a anthropology applicant in California using the admit rate INTO THE PROGRAM where the page reports one, not the campus rate. For each college give: the program admit rate and year, whether freshmen are admitted directly or enter as a related social science major, net price with aid, and median earnings four years after the degree. Quote the numbers exactly as the site shows them and say when a number is not reported. Do not use any other source.

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The list is where the work starts

A useful anthropology list is built on the things that do vary from school to school: how selective the campus is, what a family actually pays after aid, and what graduates earn four years later. Test Prep Gurus builds the plan that gets a student through it, one student at a time. prepgurus.com · 949.229.5359