University of California - Berkeley Overview
Located in Berkeley, California, University of California - Berkeley is a public institution. Berkeley is a great location for students who prefer city over country life.
What Is University of California - Berkeley Known For?
- The 2% student loan default rate at UC Berkeley is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- The highest award offered at UC Berkeley is the doctor's degree.
- In 2017-2018, 67% of the faculty were full-time.
- A student who earns a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley makes roughly $64,700 a year. This is 59% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.
- On average, it takes about 4.2 years for students from UC Berkeley to earn a bachelor's degree. This is excellent when compared to the average of 4.4 years.
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University of California - Berkeley Rankings
According to our 2021 analysis, UC Berkeley is ranked #72 out of 2,320 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation. It is also ranked #11 out of 220 schools in California.
Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.
UC Berkeley has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#15 | Most Popular Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#17 | Most Popular Doctor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#23 | Best Master’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#31 | Most Popular Master’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#45 | Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#131 | Most Popular Graduate Certificate Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at UC Berkeley.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards UC Berkeley has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Colleges for Legal Professions | College Factual |
#1 | Best Colleges for Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies | College Factual |
#3 | Best Colleges for Physical Sciences | College Factual |
#9 | Best Colleges for English Language & Literature | College Factual |
#11 | Best Colleges for Computer & Information Sciences | College Factual |
#25 | Best Business Schools | Business Degree Central |
Where Is University of California - Berkeley?

Contact details for UC Berkeley are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 200 California Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 |
Phone: | 510-642-6000 |
Website: | www.berkeley.edu |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/UCBerkeley |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/UCBerkeley |
How Do I Get Into UC Berkeley?
You can apply to UC Berkeley online at: admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/apply-now.html
Admission Requirements for UC Berkeley
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | neither required nor recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | considered but not required |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | recommended |
How Hard Is It To Get Into UC Berkeley?
Approximately 43% of accepted students are men and 57% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 15%, and the acceptance rate for women is 19%.
Average Test Scores
About 73% of students accepted to UC Berkeley submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 630 and 720. Math scores were between 630 and 760.
Can I Afford University of California - Berkeley?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At UC Berkeley, approximately 21% of students took out student loans averaging $6,175 a year. That adds up to $24,700 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at UC Berkeley is 2.0%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
University of California - Berkeley Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 11,837 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 29,991 full-time undergraduates at UC Berkeley, 46% are male and 54% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of University of California - Berkeley students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 10,800 |
Black or African American | 545 |
Hispanic or Latino | 4,687 |
White | 7,129 |
International Students | 3,896 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 2,934 |
Geographic Diversity
California students aren't the only ones who study at University of California - Berkeley. At this time, 44 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 129 countries are represented at UC Berkeley. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, South Korea, and India.
Online Learning at University of California - Berkeley
The following chart shows how the online learning population at UC Berkeley has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 62nd most popular in California for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2017-2018.
Online Growth Rankings of UC Berkeley
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at University of California - Berkeley was 30.4%. This is the #687 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at UC Berkeley regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of UC Berkeley majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Electrical Engineering | 20% |
Engineering | 8% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at UC Berkeley ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at UC Berkeley.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Electrical Engineering | #9 | |
Public Health | #14 | |
Engineering | #17 | |
Health Professions | #199 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
University of California - Berkeley Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By LAgirl5252 under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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