Value of a Berkeley Education
An education from UC Berkeley adds up to an experience of a lifetime. Here are some ways the value of a Berkeley degree can benefit you or your child.
Financial Aid
2/3 of all Berkeley undergraduates receive some form of financial aid
$10 million is awarded to Berkeley students each year in scholarship aid
61% of undergraduates graduated without loan debt (graduating between July 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014); average cumulative loan debt of graduating seniors who borrowed is $17,584
Top 5 most affordable colleges (Time, (link is external) 2016)
Career & Post-Graduation
87% law school admit rate
57% medical school admit rate
#1 college for startups ( Berkeley's Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneur Forum), bestcolleges.com) (link is external)
239 Berkeley graduates founded startups in the first nine months of 2016 (Techcrunch (link is external), 2016)
#5 schools that produce the most millionaires (U.S. News & World Report (link is external), September 2016)
#8 college graduates whose average earnings (30 years) outweigh the cost of college (bestcolleges.com (link is external))
Top 5 in early career earnings ($60,300) (Time, (link is external) 2016)
#2 college most likely to land you a job in Silicon Valley (Business Insider, (link is external) 2015)
1,100 employers attend our college fairs each year
Academics & Scholarship
97% retention rate among first-year freshmen
94% retention rate among first-year transfer students
#1 public university in the nation, #20 overall (U.S. News & World Report, September 2016)
#1 public university in the world, #3 overall (ARWU (link is external) World University [Shanghai] Ranking, August 2016)
#3 best global university in the world (U.S. News & World Report) (link is external)
#4 best value of 100 public colleges; UC Berkeley is the most selective university in the list (Kiplinger, 2015)
#1 undergraduate research/creative projects, #20 overall (U.S. News & World Report (link is external),2016)
1 of "elite six" world universities (Times Higher Education, (link is external) 2016)
up to #300K in prizes for undergraduates and graduates with creative solutions to solve pressing social challenges (Big Ideas)
1 hub for undergraduate research and prestigious scholarships (Office of Undergraduate Research & Scholarships)
Student Life
#7 for best cities for service-oriented students (San Francisco/Bay Area) (bestcolleges.com (link is external))
#1 college with the best extras (student programs, extracurriculars, college dynamic) (Online Schools Center, (link is external) 2015)
#1 number of Peace Corps volunteers (3,500)
#10 rank among Pac-12 football teams (Daily Cal, (link is external)2016)
Learn more