">

At a glance · California

  • 50 colleges in California report a bachelor's English program in federal outcome data or an English admit rate in the UC/CSU data.
  • Hardest reported gate: University of California-Los Angeles — English, Fall 2025: 1,858 applied, 184 admitted (10%).
  • Highest reported admit rate into the program: California State University-Monterey Bay — 100.0% (54 applied, 54 admitted, Fall 2025).
  • 1 CSU campus report English on the transfer side only: freshmen enter as another major at the campus and apply into the program later.
  • Highest median earnings four years after the degree: Stanford University, $82,036.
  • Lowest average net price with aid: California State University-Los Angeles, $3,967 per year.

1 CSU campus reports English on the transfer side only. That means the campus published no first-year admit row for the program, so freshmen enter as another major at the campus and apply into English later, not that first-year students are shut out. Admits are not enrollees. At most UC programs students are admitted to the campus, not the major. This page as JSON → · Show all 642 colleges nationwide →

Hardest reported gate

10%
University of California-Los Angeles
English, Fall 2025: 1,858 applied, 184 admitted

Highest reported admit rate

100.0%
California State University-Monterey Bay
English, Fall 2025: 54 applied, 54 admitted (transfer path)

Highest earnings, 4 yrs out

$82,036
Stanford University
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
English
Fall 2025: 1,858 applied, 184 admitted · admit GPA 4.20–4.30
10% 11% $12,548 $38,614 $55,346
University of California-Berkeley
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 1,413 applied, 501 admitted · admit GPA 4.08–4.29
35% 10% $13,481 $45,619 $69,373
University of California-Irvine
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 1,023 applied, 401 admitted · admit GPA 4.00–4.26
39% 30% $14,251 $38,632 $54,299
University of California-Santa Barbara
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 1,267 applied, 521 admitted · admit GPA 4.07–4.29
41% 44% $16,109 $41,573 $59,334
University of California-Davis
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 986 applied, 584 admitted · admit GPA 4.00–4.26
59% 46% $14,741 $41,238 $59,012
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 617 applied, 393 admitted
impacted
63.7% 30% $16,665 $32,265 $63,413
California State University-Long Beach
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 564 applied, 360 admitted
impacted
Creative Writing: 60.3%
63.8% 47% $10,440 $22,679 $49,804
University of California-Santa Cruz
CA · Public · Test-optional
Literature
Fall 2025: 839 applied, 635 admitted · admit GPA 3.85–4.23
76% 82% $17,890 $41,179
San Diego State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 694 applied, 534 admitted
impacted
English Composition: 86.7%
76.9% 34% $15,364 $27,780 $49,406
San Jose State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 281 applied, 239 admitted
impacted
Technical and Professional Writing: 80.0%
85.1% 80% $13,760 $26,593
San Francisco State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Creative Writing
Fall 2025: 121 applied, 108 admitted
English Literature: 96.5% · English: 85.0% · Technical and Professional Writing: 94.6%
89.3% 96% $12,278 $26,488 $59,032
California State University-Bakersfield
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 115 applied, 104 admitted
90.4% 88% $5,652 $19,522 $52,420
California State University-Channel Islands
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 77 applied, 70 admitted
90.9% 93% $9,849 $23,561 $53,200
California State University-Fullerton
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 417 applied, 379 admitted
impacted
90.9% 87% $6,555 $18,269 $51,845
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 247 applied, 227 admitted
91.9% 92% $3,967 $18,403 $52,259
University of California-Merced
CA · Public · Test-optional
Literatures In English
Fall 2025: 333 applied, 311 admitted · admit GPA 3.50–4.13
93% 95% $11,983 $39,665 $58,623
California State University-Northridge
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 347 applied, 325 admitted
93.7% 93% $7,021 $20,485 $47,660
California State University-Stanislaus
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 48 applied, 45 admitted
93.8% 98% $6,067 $19,739 $54,501
University of California-Riverside
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 508 applied, 480 admitted · admit GPA 3.56–4.12
Creative Writing: 91%
94% 88% $14,304 $38,942 $50,712
California State University-Chico
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 194 applied, 183 admitted
94.3% 94% $14,480 $26,283 $49,189
California State University-East Bay
CA · Public · Test-optional
Creative Writing
Fall 2025: 73 applied, 69 admitted
English: 88.6%
94.5% 97% $9,320 $22,850 $53,147
California State University-San Bernardino
CA · Public · Test-optional
Creative Writing
Fall 2025: 94 applied, 89 admitted
English Literature: 92.0% · English Composition: 100.0%
94.7% 98% $4,564 $17,427 $43,648
California State University-Dominguez Hills
CA · Public · Test-optional
English Literature
Fall 2025: 100 applied, 95 admitted
95.0% 91% $8,615 $23,191 $57,245
California State University-Sacramento
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 201 applied, 191 admitted
95.0% 94% $9,338 $22,945 $50,680
California State University-San Marcos
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 133 applied, 127 admitted
95.5% 96% $10,229 $21,649 $54,985
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
CA · Public · Test-optional
English Literature
Fall 2025: 156 applied, 149 admitted
95.5% 74% $11,531 $23,955 $47,721
California State University-Fresno
CA · Public · Test-optional
Creative Writing
Fall 2025: 71 applied, 68 admitted
English Literature: 97.9%
95.8% 96% $7,000 $20,095 $47,223
California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 166 applied, 160 admitted
96.4% 99% $13,171 $25,170 $43,310
Sonoma State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Creative Writing
Fall 2025: 73 applied, 72 admitted
English: 94.0% · English Literature: 97.6%
98.6% 95% $12,885 $24,648 $59,418
California State University-Monterey Bay
CA · Public · Test-optional
English
Fall 2025: 54 applied, 54 admitted
transfer path only · freshmen enter as another major at the campus
Creative Writing: 100.0% (transfer)
100.0% 95% $13,663 $26,987
Stanford University
CA · Private nonprofit · Required
Not reported by the college system 4% $13,807 $87,833 $82,036
University of San Diego
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 47% $30,365 $78,720 $68,752
Loyola Marymount University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 40% $48,381 $83,943 $66,806
University of Southern California
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 10% $32,740 $90,300 $59,345
Westmont College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 80% $29,053 $71,150 $58,459
Chapman University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 56% $46,555 $83,146 $58,055
University of California-San Diego
CA · Public · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 27% $12,470 $38,701 $57,900
Saint Mary's College of California
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 89% $30,378 $77,659 $57,651
California Baptist University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 74% $26,285 $54,038 $56,656
Whittier College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 85% $25,757 $63,664 $55,536
California Lutheran University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 89% $30,109 $68,426 $52,428
University of Redlands
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 81% $30,031 $76,630 $50,810
University of San Francisco
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 51% $41,431 $80,141 $49,684
Biola University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 60% $31,495 $62,757 $43,154
Azusa Pacific University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 80% $22,212 $56,313
Concordia University-Irvine
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 60% $28,115 $58,682
Mount Saint Mary's University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 69% $21,413 $66,726
Occidental College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 40% $38,263 $84,800
Pepperdine University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 50% $58,098 $93,512
University of La Verne
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 48% $20,161 $62,278

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/english, then open each college profile it links to. Build a reach / match / likely list for a English 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 another major at the campus, 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 EngineeringComputer ScienceConstruction ManagementCriminal Justice and CriminologyData ScienceDesign (graphic, interior, industrial)EconomicsElectrical EngineeringEnvironmental 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

An English list needs both kinds of campus on it, a few where the reported number is as small as the 10% at UCLA, and several like Cal State LA at 91.9%, where nearly everyone who applied to the program was admitted. Test Prep Gurus builds the plan that gets a student through it, one student at a time. prepgurus.com · 949.229.5359