By major · Social Work
Where can your student actually get into social work?
Social work is one of the majors where California's public campuses report the program's own numbers, and the spread between them is wide. UC Berkeley's social welfare program shows 278 applied and 39 admitted, a 14% rate, while Cal State LA shows 449 applied and 408 admitted at 90.9%. A UC admits to the campus rather than to the major at most programs, so read the Berkeley line as what that program reported and not as a separate door. Every number below comes from the colleges' own reporting or the federal earnings data, gathered in one place.
At a glance · California
- 20 colleges in California report a bachelor's social work program in federal outcome data or a social work admit rate in the UC/CSU data.
- Hardest reported gate: University of California-Berkeley — Social Welfare, Fall 2025: 278 applied, 39 admitted (14%).
- Highest reported admit rate into the program: California State University-San Bernardino — 92.3% (155 applied, 143 admitted, Fall 2025).
- 1 CSU campus report social work on the transfer side only: freshmen enter as a related major and apply into the program later.
- Highest median earnings four years after the degree: La Sierra University, $69,244.
- Lowest average net price with aid: California State University-Los Angeles, $3,967 per year.
Fresno State reports no first-year row for social work, only a transfer row where 100 applied and 78 were admitted, so a freshman there starts in a related major and applies into the program later. A missing first-year row is not a closed door and it is not an easier path; it is a second application to plan for. Admits are not enrollees. At most UC programs students are admitted to the campus, not the major. This page as JSON → · Show all 418 colleges nationwide →
Hardest reported gate
Social Welfare, Fall 2025: 278 applied, 39 admitted
Highest reported admit rate
Social Work, Fall 2025: 155 applied, 143 admitted
Highest earnings, 4 yrs out
median, graduates of this program
Lowest net price with aid
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
|
Social Welfare
Fall 2025: 278 applied, 39 admitted · admit GPA 4.08–4.26
|
14% | 10% | $13,481 | $45,619 | $67,393 |
|
San Diego State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Social Work
Fall 2025: 407 applied, 107 admitted
impacted
|
26.3% | 34% | $15,364 | $27,780 | $56,674 |
|
California State University-Long Beach
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Social Work
Fall 2025: 522 applied, 164 admitted
impacted
|
31.4% | 47% | $10,440 | $22,679 | $68,448 |
|
California State University-Fresno
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Social Work
Fall 2025: 100 applied, 78 admitted
transfer path only · freshmen enter as a related major
impacted
|
78.0% | 96% | $7,000 | $20,095 | $56,038 |
|
California State University-East Bay
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Social Work
Fall 2025: 73 applied, 59 admitted
|
80.8% | 97% | $9,320 | $22,850 | — |
|
California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Social Work
Fall 2025: 143 applied, 117 admitted
|
81.8% | 99% | $13,171 | $25,170 | $57,953 |
|
San Jose State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Social Work
Fall 2025: 184 applied, 155 admitted
impacted
|
84.2% | 80% | $13,760 | $26,593 | — |
|
California State University-Chico
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Social Work
Fall 2025: 174 applied, 149 admitted
|
85.6% | 94% | $14,480 | $26,283 | $57,146 |
|
San Francisco State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Social Work
Fall 2025: 230 applied, 201 admitted
|
87.4% | 96% | $12,278 | $26,488 | $68,524 |
|
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Social Work
Fall 2025: 366 applied, 323 admitted
|
88.3% | 74% | $11,531 | $23,955 | — |
|
California State University-Sacramento
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Social Work
Fall 2025: 228 applied, 207 admitted
|
90.8% | 94% | $9,338 | $22,945 | $58,280 |
|
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Social Work
Fall 2025: 449 applied, 408 admitted
|
90.9% | 92% | $3,967 | $18,403 | $59,545 |
|
California State University-San Bernardino
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Social Work
Fall 2025: 155 applied, 143 admitted
impacted
|
92.3% | 98% | $4,564 | $17,427 | $69,201 |
|
La Sierra University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 93% | $45,566 | $51,459 | $69,244 |
|
Fresno Pacific University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 58% | $13,630 | $44,249 | $61,951 |
|
Pacific Union College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 42% | $41,008 | $49,404 | $61,514 |
|
California State University-Northridge
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 93% | $7,021 | $20,485 | $52,988 |
|
Azusa Pacific University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 80% | $22,212 | $56,313 | — |
|
California State University-Monterey Bay
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 95% | $13,663 | $26,987 | — |
|
Mount Saint Mary's University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 69% | $21,413 | $66,726 | — |
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/social-work, then open each college profile it links to. Build a reach / match / likely list for a social work 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 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
The list is where the work starts
A social work list needs campuses at both ends of that range, because the same degree reported 14% at one California public and 92.3% at another. Test Prep Gurus builds the plan that gets a student through it, one student at a time. prepgurus.com · 949.229.5359