University of California, Berkeley

Overview

The University of California, Berkeley, founded in 1868, is tied for No. 20 among national universities in the US News 2027 rankings. In fall 2025 it enrolled 33,122 undergraduates, with a student-to-faculty ratio of 18.2:1. Of first-year students who entered in fall 2019, 81% graduated within four years and 94% within six; of those who entered in fall 2024, 97% returned for a second year.

Three kinds of families tend to fit. The first is a California family that wants a top public research university at in-state cost. The second has a student who already has a clear academic direction, because Berkeley admits by college and major. The third has a student whose strength is coursework and grades rather than testing, because Berkeley does not consider the SAT or ACT at all. For Irvine families, Berkeley shares one application with the other UC campuses, and what matters most is the A-G coursework of grades 10 and 11; the last section of this page lays that out by grade.

Admissions data

11.4%Class of 2029 admit rate

1. Applied126,864
2. Admitted14,524
3. Enrolled6,687

• California68%
• Other US states23%
• International10%

Fall 2026 admits; preliminary UC Office of the President data as of June 17, 2026.

• California12.4%
• Other US states10%
• International5.4%

Calculated from preliminary UC Office of the President counts: California 76,201 applied and 9,445 admitted; other US states 31,707 applied and 3,155 admitted; international 25,220 applied and 1,367 admitted.

Berkeley’s admissions office, using data as of August 2026, reports 133,157 applicants and 13,992 admits for the Class of 2030. The middle 50% of admitted students had an unweighted GPA of 3.90 to 4.00 and a weighted GPA of 4.36 to 4.72; 74.0% came from public schools and 23% are first-generation college students.

How to apply

Berkeley receives applications through the UC Application, which covers every UC campus a student chooses. The application fee is $80 for domestic applicants and $95 for international applicants, with waivers for financial need. The application covers high school courses and grades, activities and awards, and four personal insight questions (PIQs) chosen from eight; all eight carry equal weight. Applicants must complete the A-G requirements, 15 year-long college-preparatory courses across seven subject areas with at least 11 finished before senior year, with a minimum A-G GPA of 3.0 for California residents and 3.4 for nonresidents. Most applicants submit nothing further; only applicants to M.E.T., Global Management, and the Spieker business program complete supplemental forms in the MAP@Berkeley portal.

Testing plays no part in review. Berkeley describes itself as test-free, meaning SAT and ACT scores are not used for evaluation, selection, or scholarships in any way; scores are used only for placement or credit after admission. AP and IB exam scores still count as added value. In its Common Data Set, Berkeley rates rigor of secondary school record, academic GPA, and the application essays as very important, and lists class rank, interviews, alumni relation, and level of applicant interest as not considered.

Interviews are not part of review. Letters of recommendation are not required either: between October and early December, Berkeley invites a small share of applicants to submit up to two letters, at least one from a teacher in a core academic subject, due January 10. Students who are not invited cannot send letters, and applicants without letters are not at a disadvantage. International undergraduates are not eligible for federal, state, or need-based university aid.

Cost and financial aid

2026-27 · new California residents$41,854billed total

• Tuition$14,202
• Fees$4,012
• Housing$16,640
• Meals$7,000

What a family actually pays, by residency and income

1. California, under $100,000Most families receive enough grants and scholarships to cover UC tuition
2. California, above $100,000Assessed on need; eligible for the Middle Class Scholarship
3. NonresidentsAdd $39,270 Nonresident Supplemental Tuition; international students cannot receive need-based aid

Under the University of California’s Blue and Gold commitment, most California families earning up to $100,000 receive enough grant and scholarship money to cover UC tuition. Average gift aid (grants and scholarships that do not need to be repaid) for Berkeley undergraduates exceeds $27,500, and financial aid covers tuition and fees for over a third of Berkeley students. There is no separate aid application: students file the FAFSA or California Dream Act Application, plus the Cal Grant GPA Verification Form, by March 2. Under UC’s Tuition Stability Plan, tuition, the Student Services Fee, and Nonresident Supplemental Tuition are set when a student first enrolls and stay the same for up to six academic years; campus-based fees are excluded and may change each year.

Schools and fields of study

Berkeley has 15 schools and colleges and more than 300 degree programs. Undergraduates are admitted to six colleges and one school: the College of Letters and Science, the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS), the College of Chemistry, the College of Engineering, the College of Environmental Design, the Rausser College of Natural Resources, and the Haas School of Business. Applicants choose a college and major directly on the UC Application, and admission decisions are made by major.

The map groups the main undergraduate majors listed by the admissions office, without the concentrations inside each major. The choice of major shapes admission directly. Applicants list a first-choice and an alternate major, but Berkeley guarantees review only of the first choice, and choosing Undeclared does not affect admission chances. Students can change majors after enrolling with an advisor, but high-demand majors such as engineering are hard to enter, and changes within the same college are easier. Letters and Science designates Art Practice, Analytics (Operations Research and Management Science), Political Economy, Public Health, and Social Welfare as high-demand majors: students admitted with one of them keep it by completing prerequisites and staying in good standing, while students who apply later get a single attempt and must have a backup major. Computer Science and Data Science moved to CDSS admissions in fall 2023 and are not on the Letters and Science high-demand list.

Business has two routes. Haas admits high school applicants directly through the Spieker Undergraduate Business Program, and continuing Berkeley students can apply to the two-year business major. The Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology (M.E.T.) program awards two Bachelor of Science degrees, one in engineering and one in business, within four years; it is open only to first-year applicants, and those not admitted are reviewed for the matching engineering major. Letters and Science also offers dual degrees with Sciences Po and the University of Hong Kong, where students spend their first two years before finishing at Berkeley; these require a separate application.

Campus life

First-year students entering in 2026-27 who meet all deadlines and conditions receive a two-year housing guarantee; new transfer students receive one year. First-year residence halls include Units 1, 2, and 3, Clark Kerr, Foothill, Blackwell, Martinez Commons, and Stern, with corridor-style rooms, suites, and mini-suites; triples are the most common room type. Six theme programs in the halls serve African American, Asian American, Chicanx and Latinx, Native American, and South Asian, Southwest Asian, and North African students, plus the UNITY community. Berkeley has added more than 2,400 beds since 2018.

A timeline for Irvine families

The five Irvine Unified high schools differ in when honors and AP courses open and how the math sequence accelerates, and UC counts only A-G grades from grades 10 and 11, so the grade 9 schedule determines how much rigor an application can show. School-by-school rules are in the IUSD high school guides.

1. Grade 9Plan around A-G
   • Confirm every course is on the A-G approved list
   • Set four-year math and world language paths
   • Choose one or two activities that can run four years
2. Grade 10GPA starts to count
   • UC GPA begins with grade 10 courses
   • Honors and AP points from grade 10 capped at four semesters
   • Turn activities into visible output
3. Grade 11The last full year of grades
   • Grade 11 is the last complete transcript at application time
   • AP exam scores count as added value
   • Draft the four PIQs over the summer
4. Fall of grade 12Submit the UC Application
   • Start the UC Application after August 1
   • Submit between October 1 and November 30
   • Settle the first-choice major; invited letters due January 10

Berkeley does not consider the SAT or ACT, but students also applying to private colleges still need to test; dates are on the 2026-27 test calendar, and preparation options are on the SAT page.

How EDUBUS helps

EDUBUS college planning runs year by year from grade 9: a four-year course plan checked against A-G requirements and the rules of each Irvine high school, an activities direction that matches the intended major, and in grade 12 a counselor review of the UC Application activity descriptions and all four personal insight questions, including the choice of first-choice and alternate majors. Preparing the FAFSA or California Dream Act Application is part of the service. To see how a student’s current courses and grades compare with Berkeley’s admitted class, start with a free assessment.