At a glance · California

  • 53 colleges in California offer a bachelor's Spanish program: 52 awarded the degree in 2022-23 (federal IPEDS completions); 1 more carry program earnings in federal outcome data but no 2022-23 degree count under these program codes.
  • Largest programs by graduates in 2022-23: California State University-Fresno (52), University of California-Davis (50), San Diego State University (48).
  • Hardest reported gate into the program (only the UC and the CSU publish one): University of California-Santa Barbara — Spanish, Fall 2025: 139 applied, 44 admitted (32%).
  • Highest reported admit rate into the program: California State University-Los Angeles — 97.5% (79 applied, 77 admitted, Fall 2025).
  • 1 CSU campus report Spanish on the transfer side only: freshmen enter as a pre-major and apply into the program later.
  • Highest median earnings four years after the degree: University of California-Berkeley, $75,715.
  • Lowest average net price with aid: California State University-Los Angeles, $3,967 per year.

One CSU campus reports Spanish on the transfer side only, so freshmen there start in another major and apply into Spanish later. A blank admit rate anywhere else means the college publishes none, not that the program takes everyone. Spanish teacher education is a separate degree with a page of its own, so it is not counted here. Admits are not enrollees. At most UC programs students are admitted to the campus, not the major. This page as JSON → · All 650 colleges nationwide →

Hardest reported gate

32%
University of California-Santa Barbara
Spanish, Fall 2025: 139 applied, 44 admitted

Highest reported admit rate

97.5%
California State University-Los Angeles
Spanish, Fall 2025: 79 applied, 77 admitted

Highest earnings, 4 yrs out

$75,715
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, then by graduates. Degree awarded is the program the college conferred bachelor's degrees in during 2022-23, with the number of graduates (federal IPEDS completions). 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 Degree awarded
· graduates 2022-23
Program
admit rate
Campus
admit rate
Net price
with aid
Full
price
Earnings
4 yrs out
University of California-Santa Barbara
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 139 applied, 44 admitted · admit GPA 3.95–4.27
Spanish Language and Literature
24 graduates
32% 44% $16,109 $41,573 $68,496
University of California-Irvine
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 104 applied, 39 admitted · admit GPA 3.84–4.22
Spanish Language and Literature
27 graduates
38% 30% $14,251 $38,632 $55,360
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 73 applied, 38 admitted
impacted
Spanish Language and Literature
4 graduates
52.1% 30% $16,665 $32,265 —
University of California-Davis
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 82 applied, 55 admitted · admit GPA 3.76–4.12
Spanish Language and Literature
50 graduates
67% 46% $14,741 $41,238 $60,797
San Diego State University
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 107 applied, 73 admitted
impacted
Spanish Language and Literature
48 graduates
68.2% 34% $15,364 $27,780 $49,167
California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 18 applied, 13 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
1 graduate
72.2% 99% $13,171 $25,170 —
California State University-Long Beach
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 96 applied, 71 admitted
impacted
Spanish Language and Literature
40 graduates
74.0% 47% $10,440 $22,679 $52,961
Sonoma State University
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 12 applied, 10 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
9 graduates
83.3% 95% $12,885 $24,648 $53,489
California State University-Bakersfield
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 37 applied, 32 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
23 graduates
86.5% 88% $5,652 $19,522 —
California State University-Chico
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 23 applied, 20 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
4 graduates
87.0% 94% $14,480 $26,283 $56,144
California State University-Fullerton
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 95 applied, 83 admitted
impacted
Spanish Language and Literature
39 graduates
87.4% 87% $6,555 $18,269 $47,581
California State University-Sacramento
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 34 applied, 30 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
37 graduates
88.2% 94% $9,338 $22,945 $52,028
California State University-Stanislaus
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 17 applied, 15 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
24 graduates
88.2% 98% $6,067 $19,739 $50,145
San Francisco State University
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 26 applied, 23 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
9 graduates
88.5% 96% $12,278 $26,488 $62,623
California State University-Channel Islands
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 19 applied, 17 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
12 graduates
89.5% 93% $9,849 $23,561 $50,202
California State University-Monterey Bay
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 43 applied, 39 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
19 graduates
90.7% 95% $13,663 $26,987 $39,824
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 66 applied, 60 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
22 graduates
90.9% 74% $11,531 $23,955 $68,077
California State University-Dominguez Hills
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 66 applied, 60 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
19 graduates
90.9% 91% $8,615 $23,191 —
California State University-Northridge
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 85 applied, 78 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
42 graduates
91.8% 93% $7,021 $20,485 $43,345
University of California-Riverside
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 101 applied, 94 admitted · admit GPA 3.36–3.87
Spanish Language and Literature
36 graduates
93% 88% $14,304 $38,942 $42,692
California State University-San Marcos
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 62 applied, 58 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
22 graduates
93.5% 96% $10,229 $21,649 —
California State University-East Bay
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 34 applied, 32 admitted
transfer path only · freshmen enter as a pre-major
Spanish Language and Literature
9 graduates
94.1% 97% $9,320 $22,850 —
California State University-Fresno
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 42 applied, 40 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
52 graduates
95.2% 96% $7,000 $20,095 $45,063
California State University-San Bernardino
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 63 applied, 60 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
34 graduates
95.2% 98% $4,564 $17,427 $40,695
San Jose State University
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 33 applied, 32 admitted
impacted
Spanish Language and Literature
14 graduates
97.0% 80% $13,760 $26,593 —
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-blind
Spanish
Fall 2025: 79 applied, 77 admitted
Spanish Language and Literature
25 graduates
97.5% 92% $3,967 $18,403 $35,591
University of California-Berkeley
CA · Public · Test-blind
Not reported by the college system — — 10% $13,481 $45,619 $75,715
Occidental College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
1 graduate
— 40% $38,263 $84,800 $71,779
University of Redlands
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
10 graduates
— 81% $30,031 $76,630 $67,126
Loyola Marymount University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
2 graduates
— 40% $48,381 $83,943 $62,024
University of the Pacific
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
4 graduates
— 95% $25,447 $71,515 $61,487
University of Southern California
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
9 graduates
— 10% $32,740 $90,300 $59,088
University of California-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-blind
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
17 graduates
— 11% $12,548 $38,614 $55,946
University of California-Santa Cruz
CA · Public · Test-blind
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
8 graduates
— 82% $17,890 $41,179 $51,519
California Lutheran University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
13 graduates
— 89% $30,109 $68,426 —
Azusa Pacific University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
5 graduates
— 80% $22,212 $56,313 —
California Baptist University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
4 graduates
— 74% $26,285 $54,038 —
Mount Saint Mary's University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
4 graduates
— 69% $21,413 $66,726 —
National University
CA · Private nonprofit
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
4 graduates
— — $22,878 — —
Stanford University
CA · Private nonprofit · Required
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
4 graduates
— 4% $13,807 $87,833 —
University of San Diego
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
4 graduates
— 47% $30,365 $78,720 —
Pacific Union College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
3 graduates
— 42% $41,008 $49,404 —
Biola University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
2 graduates
— 60% $31,495 $62,757 —
Chapman University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
2 graduates
— 56% $46,555 $83,146 —
Saint Mary's College of California
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
2 graduates
— 89% $30,378 $77,659 —
Santa Clara University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
2 graduates
— 44% $50,062 $82,026 —
Scripps College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
2 graduates
— 34% $36,294 $87,564 —
University of La Verne
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
2 graduates
— 48% $20,161 $62,278 —
Westmont College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
2 graduates
— 80% $29,053 $71,150 —
Fresno Pacific University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
1 graduate
— 58% $13,630 $44,249 —
Pomona College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
1 graduate
— 7% $19,285 $85,300 —
University of California-San Diego
CA · Public · Test-blind
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
1 graduate
— 27% $12,470 $38,701 —
Whittier College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Spanish Language and Literature
1 graduate
— 85% $25,757 $63,664 —

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); IPEDS Completions ↗ (bachelor's degrees conferred by 6-digit program, 2022-23, first major); 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/spanish?state=CA, then open each college profile it links to. Build a reach / match / likely list for a Spanish 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 Spanish list is easy to build and easy to build badly. Pick campuses from across that admit range, check whether the degree is Spanish or Spanish teaching, and look up the price at each one, which starts at $3,967 a year after aid at Cal State LA. Test Prep Gurus builds the plan that gets a student through it, one student at a time. prepgurus.com · 949.229.5359