By major · Sociology
Where can your student actually get into sociology?
Sociology is offered at 47 California colleges in this data, and the odds of getting in swing further than most families expect. In Fall 2025 UC Berkeley admitted 237 of 2,194 first-year applicants to sociology, while Cal State Fresno admitted 123 of 126. A UC campus makes the admission decision for most of its programs, so a sociology rate at a UC is largely a read on how hard that campus was to enter that year. Every number below is the college system's own reporting, assembled in one place.
At a glance · California
- 47 colleges in California report a bachelor's sociology program in federal outcome data or a sociology admit rate in the UC/CSU data.
- Hardest reported gate: University of California-Berkeley — Sociology, Fall 2025: 2,194 applied, 237 admitted (11%).
- Highest reported admit rate into the program: California State University-Fresno — 97.6% (126 applied, 123 admitted, Fall 2025).
- Highest median earnings four years after the degree: University of California-Berkeley, $71,363.
- Lowest average net price with aid: California State University-Los Angeles, $3,967 per year.
No California campus in this data reports sociology on the transfer side only, so a campus missing a first-year row here did not report the major rather than closing it to freshmen. At the selective campuses the gate to plan around is the campus admission decision itself, which is where the reported number comes from. Admits are not enrollees. At most UC programs students are admitted to the campus, not the major. This page as JSON → · Show all 492 colleges nationwide →
Hardest reported gate
Sociology, Fall 2025: 2,194 applied, 237 admitted
Highest reported admit rate
Sociology, Fall 2025: 126 applied, 123 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
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 2,194 applied, 237 admitted · admit GPA 4.12–4.28
|
11% | 10% | $13,481 | $45,619 | $71,363 |
|
University of California-San Diego
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 1,442 applied, 278 admitted · admit GPA 4.06–4.25
Sociology - Law And Society: 18% · Sociology - Economy And Society: 21% · Sociology - Science And Medicine: 20%
|
19% | 27% | $12,470 | $38,701 | $55,534 |
|
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 949 applied, 282 admitted
impacted
|
29.7% | 30% | $16,665 | $32,265 | $69,883 |
|
University of California-Santa Barbara
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 3,602 applied, 1,199 admitted · admit GPA 4.02–4.25
|
33% | 44% | $16,109 | $41,573 | $60,013 |
|
University of California-Irvine
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 2,102 applied, 826 admitted · admit GPA 3.95–4.19
|
39% | 30% | $14,251 | $38,632 | $56,457 |
|
University of California-Davis
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 2,027 applied, 1,013 admitted · admit GPA 3.95–4.19
|
50% | 46% | $14,741 | $41,238 | $59,171 |
|
California State University-Long Beach
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 754 applied, 421 admitted
impacted
|
55.8% | 47% | $10,440 | $22,679 | $51,982 |
|
University of California-Santa Cruz
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 1,450 applied, 969 admitted · admit GPA 3.76–4.13
|
67% | 82% | $17,890 | $41,179 | $55,338 |
|
San Diego State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 958 applied, 671 admitted
impacted
|
70.0% | 34% | $15,364 | $27,780 | $53,387 |
|
California State University-East Bay
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 40 applied, 32 admitted
|
80.0% | 97% | $9,320 | $22,850 | $62,427 |
|
San Jose State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 256 applied, 216 admitted
impacted
|
84.4% | 80% | $13,760 | $26,593 | — |
|
California State University-Bakersfield
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 124 applied, 105 admitted
|
84.7% | 88% | $5,652 | $19,522 | $52,618 |
|
California State University-Fullerton
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 605 applied, 535 admitted
impacted
|
88.4% | 87% | $6,555 | $18,269 | $50,922 |
|
University of California-Riverside
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 1,649 applied, 1,473 admitted · admit GPA 3.33–4.00
|
89% | 88% | $14,304 | $38,942 | $55,682 |
|
University of California-Merced
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 1,511 applied, 1,345 admitted · admit GPA 3.37–4.00
|
89% | 95% | $11,983 | $39,665 | $50,468 |
|
California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 74 applied, 66 admitted
|
89.2% | 99% | $13,171 | $25,170 | $48,143 |
|
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 366 applied, 333 admitted
|
91.0% | 92% | $3,967 | $18,403 | $50,249 |
|
California State University-Stanislaus
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 48 applied, 44 admitted
|
91.7% | 98% | $6,067 | $19,739 | $46,340 |
|
California State University-Sacramento
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 183 applied, 168 admitted
|
91.8% | 94% | $9,338 | $22,945 | $56,886 |
|
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 249 applied, 229 admitted
|
92.0% | 74% | $11,531 | $23,955 | $52,694 |
|
San Francisco State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 197 applied, 182 admitted
|
92.4% | 96% | $12,278 | $26,488 | $62,385 |
|
California State University-Chico
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 131 applied, 122 admitted
|
93.1% | 94% | $14,480 | $26,283 | $52,323 |
|
California State University-San Marcos
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 322 applied, 302 admitted
|
93.8% | 96% | $10,229 | $21,649 | $53,287 |
|
California State University-San Bernardino
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 112 applied, 105 admitted
|
93.8% | 98% | $4,564 | $17,427 | $48,954 |
|
California State University-Northridge
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 356 applied, 335 admitted
|
94.1% | 93% | $7,021 | $20,485 | $54,500 |
|
California State University-Dominguez Hills
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 269 applied, 255 admitted
|
94.8% | 91% | $8,615 | $23,191 | $55,100 |
|
California State University-Channel Islands
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 147 applied, 140 admitted
|
95.2% | 93% | $9,849 | $23,561 | $56,855 |
|
California State University-Monterey Bay
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 193 applied, 184 admitted
|
95.3% | 95% | $13,663 | $26,987 | — |
|
Sonoma State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 121 applied, 117 admitted
|
96.7% | 95% | $12,885 | $24,648 | $56,581 |
|
California State University-Fresno
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Sociology
Fall 2025: 126 applied, 123 admitted
|
97.6% | 96% | $7,000 | $20,095 | $49,407 |
|
University of Southern California
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 10% | $32,740 | $90,300 | $70,555 |
|
Loyola Marymount University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 40% | $48,381 | $83,943 | $68,053 |
|
California Lutheran University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 89% | $30,109 | $68,426 | $67,998 |
|
University of California-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 11% | $12,548 | $38,614 | $64,692 |
|
University of Redlands
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 81% | $30,031 | $76,630 | $62,516 |
|
Chapman University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 56% | $46,555 | $83,146 | $62,047 |
|
University of San Francisco
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 51% | $41,431 | $80,141 | $61,883 |
|
University of La Verne
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 48% | $20,161 | $62,278 | $61,350 |
|
Mount Saint Mary's University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 69% | $21,413 | $66,726 | $59,575 |
|
Occidental College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 40% | $38,263 | $84,800 | $58,598 |
|
University of the Pacific
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 95% | $25,447 | $71,515 | $58,275 |
|
University of San Diego
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 47% | $30,365 | $78,720 | $54,338 |
|
California Baptist University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 74% | $26,285 | $54,038 | $54,060 |
|
Biola University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 60% | $31,495 | $62,757 | $47,052 |
|
Azusa Pacific University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 80% | $22,212 | $56,313 | — |
|
Santa Clara University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 44% | $50,062 | $82,026 | — |
|
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/sociology, then open each college profile it links to. Build a reach / match / likely list for a sociology 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
The list is where the work starts
A sociology list needs range more than it needs a gate strategy, so pair the campuses where admission is genuinely hard with the ones where it is not, then compare cost and earnings across both. Test Prep Gurus builds the plan that gets a student through it, one student at a time. prepgurus.com · 949.229.5359