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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

11%
University of California-Berkeley
Sociology, Fall 2025: 2,194 applied, 237 admitted

Highest reported admit rate

97.6%
California State University-Fresno
Sociology, Fall 2025: 126 applied, 123 admitted

Highest earnings, 4 yrs out

$71,363
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-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.

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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