">

At a glance · California

  • 49 colleges in California report a bachelor's computer science program in federal outcome data or a computer science admit rate in the UC/CSU data.
  • Hardest reported gate: University of California-Berkeley — Computer Science, Fall 2025: 7,215 applied, 283 admitted (4%).
  • Highest reported admit rate into the program: California State University-Monterey Bay — 95.7% (677 applied, 648 admitted, Fall 2025).
  • Highest median earnings four years after the degree: Pomona College, $217,051.
  • Lowest average net price with aid: California State University-Los Angeles, $3,967 per year.

A college with no first-year row here is not an easier door; it means the system does not publish an admit rate for computer science, and at most UC campuses a student is admitted to the campus rather than to the major. Where a program does report its own rate for computer science, that is the number to plan around. Admits are not enrollees. At most UC programs students are admitted to the campus, not the major. This page as JSON → · Show all 676 colleges nationwide →

Hardest reported gate

4%
University of California-Berkeley
Computer Science, Fall 2025: 7,215 applied, 283 admitted

Highest reported admit rate

95.7%
California State University-Monterey Bay
Computer Science, Fall 2025: 677 applied, 648 admitted

Highest earnings, 4 yrs out

$217,051
Pomona College
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-Berkeley
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 7,215 applied, 283 admitted · admit GPA 4.20–4.29
4% 10% $13,481 $45,619 $204,379
University of California-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 6,803 applied, 498 admitted · admit GPA 4.25–4.30
7% 11% $12,548 $38,614 $216,722
University of California-San Diego
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 6,464 applied, 672 admitted · admit GPA 4.19–4.30
10% 27% $12,470 $38,701 $159,487
University of California-Davis
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 4,893 applied, 946 admitted · admit GPA 4.20–4.30
19% 46% $14,741 $41,238 $138,673
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 4,090 applied, 1,085 admitted
impacted
Software Engineering: 23.0%
26.5% 30% $16,665 $32,265 $154,784
University of California-Irvine
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 5,418 applied, 1,608 admitted · admit GPA 4.17–4.29
Software Engineering: 29%
30% 30% $14,251 $38,632 $127,404
University of California-Santa Barbara
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 5,793 applied, 1,972 admitted · admit GPA 4.19–4.29
34% 44% $16,109 $41,573 $149,190
San Jose State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 1,866 applied, 957 admitted
impacted
Software Engineering: 77.2% · Computer Science and Information Technology: 87.8%
51.3% 80% $13,760 $26,593
California State University-Long Beach
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 2,614 applied, 1,425 admitted
impacted
54.5% 47% $10,440 $22,679 $101,428
San Diego State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 3,107 applied, 2,219 admitted
impacted
71.4% 34% $15,364 $27,780 $100,586
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 2,917 applied, 2,186 admitted
impacted
74.9% 74% $11,531 $23,955 $103,494
University of California-Riverside
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 2,712 applied, 2,104 admitted · admit GPA 4.03–4.26
Computer Science With Business Applications: 83%
78% 88% $14,304 $38,942 $117,705
University of California-Santa Cruz
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 4,616 applied, 3,744 admitted · admit GPA 3.96–4.25
Computer Science: Computer Game Design: 71%
81% 82% $17,890 $41,179 $123,422
California State University-Bakersfield
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 229 applied, 190 admitted
83.0% 88% $5,652 $19,522 $80,432
California State University-San Marcos
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 662 applied, 560 admitted
Software Engineering: 84.6% · Computer Science and Information Technology: 79.1%
84.6% 96% $10,229 $21,649 $97,827
California State University-East Bay
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 608 applied, 518 admitted
85.2% 97% $9,320 $22,850 $119,900
California State University-Chico
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 435 applied, 387 admitted
89.0% 94% $14,480 $26,283 $127,498
Sonoma State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 326 applied, 293 admitted
89.9% 95% $12,885 $24,648 $106,181
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 1,315 applied, 1,182 admitted
89.9% 92% $3,967 $18,403 $87,525
California State University-Fullerton
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 2,282 applied, 2,054 admitted
impacted
90.0% 87% $6,555 $18,269 $87,460
San Francisco State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 1,156 applied, 1,043 admitted
90.2% 96% $12,278 $26,488 $105,166
California State University-Channel Islands
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 288 applied, 260 admitted
90.3% 93% $9,849 $23,561 $100,887
California State University-Stanislaus
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 250 applied, 229 admitted
91.6% 98% $6,067 $19,739 $71,601
California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 508 applied, 468 admitted
Software Engineering: 94.4%
92.1% 99% $13,171 $25,170 $74,620
California State University-Sacramento
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 1,026 applied, 951 admitted
92.7% 94% $9,338 $22,945 $92,519
California State University-Northridge
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 1,136 applied, 1,055 admitted
Computer Science and Information Technology: 94.2%
92.9% 93% $7,021 $20,485 $101,348
California State University-Fresno
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 599 applied, 557 admitted
93.0% 96% $7,000 $20,095 $71,490
California State University-Dominguez Hills
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 646 applied, 613 admitted
Computer Science and Information Technology: 91.9%
94.9% 91% $8,615 $23,191 $74,788
California State University-San Bernardino
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 497 applied, 474 admitted
Computer Science and Information Technology: 95.7%
95.4% 98% $4,564 $17,427 $74,845
California State University-Monterey Bay
CA · Public · Test-optional
Computer Science
Fall 2025: 677 applied, 648 admitted
95.7% 95% $13,663 $26,987 $101,787
Pomona College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 7% $19,285 $85,300 $217,051
Stanford University
CA · Private nonprofit · Required
Not reported by the college system 4% $13,807 $87,833 $214,907
California Institute of Technology
CA · Private nonprofit · Required
Not reported by the college system 3% $16,075 $86,886 $200,511
Harvey Mudd College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 13% $35,924 $90,165 $198,257
University of Southern California
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 10% $32,740 $90,300 $192,897
Northeastern University Oakland
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 16% $25,181 $85,418 $163,708
University of San Francisco
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 51% $41,431 $80,141 $150,341
University of San Diego
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 47% $30,365 $78,720 $149,847
University of the Pacific
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 95% $25,447 $71,515 $147,511
Loyola Marymount University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 40% $48,381 $83,943 $127,011
Chapman University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 56% $46,555 $83,146 $112,780
California Baptist University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 74% $26,285 $54,038 $93,038
University of La Verne
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 48% $20,161 $62,278 $90,694
Biola University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 60% $31,495 $62,757 $78,943
California Lutheran University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 89% $30,109 $68,426 $77,030
Azusa Pacific University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 80% $22,212 $56,313
Occidental College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 40% $38,263 $84,800
Point Loma Nazarene University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 82% $38,729 $60,488
Westmont College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 80% $29,053 $71,150

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.

Let an AI build the list from this page

Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT

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/computer-science, then open each college profile it links to. Build a reach / match / likely list for a computer science 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 pre-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.

Other majors

AccountingAerospace EngineeringAnimal ScienceAnthropologyArchitectureArt (Studio)Art HistoryBiochemistryBiologyBiomedical Engineering and BioengineeringBusiness AdministrationChemical EngineeringChemistryChild DevelopmentCivil EngineeringCognitive ScienceCommunicationComputer EngineeringConstruction ManagementCriminal Justice and CriminologyData ScienceDesign (graphic, interior, industrial)EconomicsElectrical EngineeringEnglishEnvironmental EngineeringEnvironmental ScienceFilm and TelevisionFinanceGlobal and International StudiesHealth ScienceHistoryIndustrial EngineeringInformation SystemsJournalismKinesiologyLegal Studies (pre-law)Liberal Studies (teacher preparation)LinguisticsMarine BiologyMarketingMathematicsMechanical EngineeringMicrobiologyMusicNeuroscienceNursing (BSN)Nutrition and DieteticsPhilosophyPhysicsPolitical SciencePsychologyPublic HealthSocial WorkSociologyStatisticsTheatre All majors →

The list is where the work starts

A computer science list works only if the reach, match and likely schools are chosen by the rate reported for this major, which runs from 4% to 95.7% inside California. Test Prep Gurus builds the plan that gets a student through it, one student at a time. prepgurus.com · 949.229.5359