A Comparison of the University of California Campuses

Acceptance Rates, Graduation Rates, Financial Aid, Enrollment and More

California Hall at Berkeley. Photo Credit: Marisa Benjamin

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Updated on February 24, 2020

The University of California system includes some of the best public universities in the country. Acceptance and graduation rates, however, vary widely. The chart below puts the 10 University of California schools side-by-side for easy comparison.

Click on a university's name for more admission, cost, and financial aid information. Note that all of the University of California schools are quite pricey for out-of-state students.

The data presented here is from the National Center for Educational Statistics.

By Allen Grove

Campus	Undergrad Enrollment	Student / Faculty Ratio	Financial Aid Recipients	4-Year Graduation Rate	6-Year Graduation Rate
Berkeley	29,310	18 to 1	63%	76%	92%
Davis	29,379	20 to 1	70%	55%	85%
Irvine	27,331	18 to 1	68%	71%	87%
Los Angeles	30,873	17 to 1	64%	74%	91%
Merced	6,815	20 to 1	92%	38%	66%
Riverside	19,799	22 to 1	85%	47%	73%
San Diego	28,127	19 to 1	56%	59%	87%
Santa Barbara	21,574	18 to 1	70%	69%	82%
Santa Cruz	16,962	18 to 1	77%	52%	77%

Admissions Data

Campus	SAT Reading 25%	SAT Reading 75%	SAT Math 25%	SAT Math 75%	ACT 25%	ACT 75%	Acceptance Rate
Berkeley	620	750	650	790	31	34	17%
Davis	510	630	540	700	25	31	42%
Irvine	490	620	570	710	24	30	41%
Los Angeles	570	710	590	760	28	33	18%
Merced	420	520	450	550	19	24	74%
Riverside	460	580	480	610	21	27	66%
San Diego	560	680	610	770	27	33	36%
Santa Barbara	550	660	570	730	27	32	36%
Santa Cruz	520	630	540	660	25	30	58%

*Note: The San Francisco campus only offers graduate study and is therefore not included in the data listed above.

You can see that acceptance rates and admissions standards vary widely from campus to campus, and universities such as UCLA and Berkeley are among the most selective public universities in the country. For all campuses, however, you're going to need strong grades, and your SAT or ACT scores should be average or better. If your academic record seems on the low side for the UC campuses, be sure to check out some of the excellent options among the 23 California State University campuses -- many of the Cal State schools have a lower admissions bar than the UC schools.

Also be sure to put some of the above data into perspective. UCSD, for example, has a four-year graduation rate that seems a bit low given the selectivity of admissions, but this can be partly explained by the school's large engineering programs which nation-wide tend to have lower four-year graduation rates than programs in the liberal arts, social sciences, and sciences. Also, UCLA's lower student/faculty ratio doesn't necessarily translate into smaller classes and more personalized attention at the undergraduate level. Many of the faculty at top research universities are devoted almost entirely to graduate education and research, not undergraduate instruction.

Finally, be sure to not limit yourself to public universities strictly for financial reasons. The UC schools are some of the most expensive public universities in the United States. If you qualify for financial aid, you may find that private universities can match or even beat the price of the University of California. It's worth looking at some of the private options among these top California colleges and top West Coast colleges.

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Grove, Allen. "A Comparison of the University of California Campuses." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/comparison-university-of-california-campuses-786974. Grove, Allen. (2023, April 5). A Comparison of the University of California Campuses. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/comparison-university-of-california-campuses-786974 Grove, Allen. "A Comparison of the University of California Campuses." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/comparison-university-of-california-campuses-786974 (accessed April 19, 2024).