Berkeley, CA · public · 33,068 undergraduates
University of California, Berkeley acceptance rate, SAT range and net price
UC Berkeley admitted 10.5% of first-year applicants for fall 2026, and a new Californian living on campus is budgeted $54,674 for 2026-27.
Net price per year at UC Berkeley
$15,074
Reach · admit rate 10.5%
| Admit rate, Fall 2026 entering class, preliminary admits (snapshot) | 10.5% (1 in 10) |
| Test scores | Not considered (test-free) |
| This site’s label | Reach |
| Sticker price 2026-27, in-state | $54,674 |
| Paid by families with $75,001-$110,000 (2023-24) | $15,074 |
| Share of the sticker price | 28% |
Net price: average paid after grants by students on federal aid in that income band (2023-24), not a quote. The label is a fixed rule of this site (admit rate under 15% is a reach for everyone), not a prediction. Your exact price: UC Berkeley net price calculator. How this is calculated.
Admissions: UC Admissions, UC Berkeley first-year admit data (fall 2026 snapshot); residency split from UCOP Fact Sheet Fall 2026 First-Year and Transfer Admissions, Table 1a (offers as of June 17, 2026) · net price: College Scorecard, 2023-24 · figures checked · Built by Radif Partners · Method and data
- Admit rate, newest cycle
- 10.5%
- SAT middle 50%
- test-free
- Sticker price 2026-27
- $54,674
- Net price, income $48k to $75k
- $9,693
UC Berkeley admitted 13,967 of 133,154 first-year applicants for fall 2026, an acceptance rate of 10.5%, in the University of California's preliminary snapshot of offers. The fall 2025 class, the newest in its Common Data Set, drew 126,864 applications for 14,524 offers and 6,687 enrolled students. Berkeley does not use the SAT or ACT; enrolled students averaged a 3.9 high school GPA. For 2026-27 the financial aid office budgets $54,674 for a new California resident in a residence hall, health plan included, and $93,944 for a new nonresident. Federal figures for 2023-24 show what aided families paid: $5,311 on average under $30,000 and $9,693 between $48,001 and $75,000, and most California families earning up to $100,000 have tuition covered under Blue and Gold.
Why Berkeley costs more than UCLA for a Californian
Berkeley's budget for a student starting in 2026-27 lists $18,214 of tuition and fees, $23,640 for a residence hall room with the meal plan and the Student Health Insurance Plan, which can be waived with equivalent coverage. Books, transportation and personal costs bring the total to $54,674, against $45,500 at UCLA. The gap comes from housing, campus fees and the health plan, not from systemwide tuition, which is the same at every campus. Nonresidents add the Nonresident Supplemental Tuition, $39,270 a year.
Tuition is fixed by entering cohort. On Berkeley's own table, a student who began in 2025-26 pays $17,560 in tuition and fees for 2026-27, versus $18,214 for a new student.
UC Berkeley: the out-of-state premium
Extra tuition for a non-CA student
$136,800
| In-state tuition and fees 2024-25 | $16,347 |
| Out-of-state tuition and fees 2024-25 | $50,547 |
| Gap per year | $34,200 |
Published tuition and fees, before any nonresident scholarship; future increases not included.
An admission decision without a single test score
Berkeley, like every UC campus, ignores the SAT and ACT for admission and for Regents and Chancellor's scholarships. The record is in the grades: 39.8% of the fall 2025 class had a 4.0 and 50.1% between 3.75 and 3.99, and the UC snapshot puts the middle half of fall 2026 admits between 4.16 and 4.28 on the weighted, capped UC scale. Two students with identical grades are separated by course rigor, the personal insight questions and context.
The fall 2026 offers split as follows: 9,445 to Californians, 3,155 to students from other states and 1,367 to international students. The fall 2025 waiting list was unusual: 9,102 were offered a place and 6,479 accepted, but Berkeley reported none admitted from it as of May 2026.
UC Berkeley: net price for your family income
Average net price, 2023-24
$9,693
| Income band | $48,001-$75,000 |
| Share of the 2023-24 cost | 21% |
In-state students; federal figure for students on federal aid.
Applying: one form, November 30, no early round
There is no Early Decision or Early Action at Berkeley. Applicants file the UC application between October 1 and November 30 and can list several campuses at once; California students in the top 9 percent of their school or the state are guaranteed a seat somewhere in the UC system. Weigh Berkeley against UC San Diego, Stanford and UC Davis in the comparison tool.
From University of California, Berkeley’s own documents
- Berkeley received 126,864 first-year applications for fall 2025 and admitted 14,524; for fall 2026 it admitted 13,967 of 133,154 (preliminary), a 10.5% admit rate. source
- Of Berkeley's 13,967 fall 2026 first-year admits, 9,445 were Californians, 3,155 domestic nonresidents and 1,367 international students. source
- Berkeley offered 9,102 fall 2025 applicants a waiting-list place and 6,479 accepted, but it reported 0 admitted from the list (updated May 2026). source
- A new out-of-state student adds $39,270 of Nonresident Supplemental Tuition to Berkeley's $54,674 resident cost of attendance for 2026-27. source
- Tuition and fees for new 2026-27 students are $18,214, versus $17,560 for students who started in 2025-26, because UC fixes tuition by entering cohort. source
- UC guarantees first-year admission to a UC campus, though not necessarily the campus of choice, to California students in the top 9 percent of their high school or of the state. source
Net price at University of California, Berkeley by family income
| Family income | Average net price 2023-24 | Share of the 2023-24 cost |
|---|---|---|
| $0-$30,000 | $5,311 | 12% |
| $30,001-$48,000 | $6,501 | 14% |
| $48,001-$75,000 | $9,693 | 21% |
| $75,001-$110,000 | $15,074 | 33% |
| $110,001 and up | $34,529 | 76% |
| All aided students | $13,481 | 30% |
Cost of attendance at University of California, Berkeley, 2026-27
| Item | In-state | Out-of-state |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $18,214 | $57,484 |
| Housing and food | $23,640 | $23,640 |
| Total | $54,674 | $93,944 |
University of California, Berkeley admissions by cycle
| Entering class | Applicants | Admitted | Enrolled | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026 entering class, preliminary admits (snapshot) | 133,154 | 13,967 | n/a | 10.5% |
| Fall 2025 entering class | 126,864 | 14,524 | 6,687 | 11.4% |
| Fall 2024 (federal IPEDS figure) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 11.0% |
Outcomes at University of California, Berkeley
| Measure | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Graduated within 6 years | 93% | fall 2018 entering cohort |
| Returned for a second year | 97% | fall 2023 entering cohort |
| Median earnings 10 years after entry | $92,446 | measured 2020-2021, 10 years after entry, 2022 dollars |
| Median federal debt of graduates | $13,000 | students who finished in 2019-20 and 2020-21 |
| Undergraduates | 33,068 | fall 2024 |
| Students with a Pell Grant | 29% | 2023-24 |