Berkeley vs UCLA: The Numbers Behind the UC Rivalry
No two schools on this site share more than these two. One application covers both, the student bodies are the same size to within two dozen people, and the degrees carry the same UC seal. That is exactly why the choice feels so hard: everything obvious cancels out, and what remains — how each campus reads your file, what it costs at your family’s income, where graduates land — takes actual digging. Here is the digging.
UCLA drew 145,086 applications this cycle — more than any other school in this dataset — and admitted 9.4%; Berkeley admitted 11.4% from 126,864. After aid they cost within a thousand dollars of each other for most families, so the real differences sit in what each campus says it weighs in an application, and in what graduates go on to earn.
At a glance
| University of California, Berkeley | University of California, Los Angeles | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Berkeley, CA | Los Angeles, CA |
| Undergraduates | 33,513 | 33,534 |
| Acceptance rate | 11.4% | 9.4% |
| Applicants / admits | 126,864 / 14,524 | 145,086 / 13,659 |
| Student–faculty ratio | 18.2:1 | 20:1 |
| Average net price after aid | $13,481 | $12,548 |
| Median earnings, 10 yrs out | $92,446 | $82,511 |
The decision matrix
Retention is 97% at Berkeley and 97% at UCLA. Both graduate about 93% of students. Both enrol more than a quarter of undergraduates on Pell Grants — double the share at most elite privates. If you are choosing on quality or prestige, flip a coin; these are the differences that are real.
Choose University of California, Berkeley if you want…
- Higher earnings, ten years out. A median $92,446 ten years after entry against UCLA’s $82,511 — a real gap of $9,935, the largest difference between these two schools.
- A filing that rewards work held and responsibility carried. Berkeley rates volunteer work and work experience important; UCLA merely considers both.
- Slightly smaller classes. 50.9% of classes under 20 students and an 18.2:1 ratio, against 46.2% and 20:1 at UCLA.
- Better odds of admission. 11.4% against UCLA’s 9.4%, from a smaller pool.
- The lower debt. A median $13,000 at graduation against $14,000 — both far below the national median.
Choose University of California, Los Angeles if you want…
- An admissions read that leads with who you are. Character, extracurriculars and talent are all very important in UCLA’s filing, a tier above Berkeley’s rating for each.
- More weight if you are first in your family. UCLA rates first-generation status important where Berkeley considers it.
- A lower price above $110,000 of family income. $29,682 against Berkeley’s $34,529 — $4,847 a year.
- First-year housing as the default. 98.9% of first-years live on campus, against 90% at Berkeley.
- Marginally higher retention. 97% of first-years return, essentially tied with Berkeley’s 97% — and the highest numbers in public higher education.
Admissions: one application, two different readings
There is no early round at either campus and no binding commitment anywhere in the process — both admit through the same University of California application, and most applicants to one apply to the other. UCLA received 145,086 applications and admitted 13,659 (9.4%); Berkeley received 126,864 and admitted 14,524 (11.4%).
The same file is then read differently on each campus, and the two filings say so in unusual detail: of the 17 application factors both rate, they disagree on 11 — more than any other pair on this site.
| Application factor | University of California, Berkeley | University of California, Los Angeles |
|---|---|---|
| Character/personal qualities | Important | Very important |
| Extracurricular activities | Important | Very important |
| Recommendation(s) | Important | Very important |
| Talent/ability | Important | Very important |
| Class rank | Considered | Important |
| First generation | Considered | Important |
| State residency | Important | Not considered |
| Volunteer work | Important | Considered |
| Work experience | Important | Considered |
| Alumni/ae relation | Considered | Not considered |
| Interview | Considered | Not considered |
| Level of applicant's interest | Considered | Not considered |
Each school’s own rating of how heavily it weighs each factor, from its Common Data Set filing. Only the 12 factors they rate differently are shown — they agree on the other 6.
The pattern splits cleanly. UCLA puts the personal parts of the file at the top of its scale — character, extracurriculars and talent are all very important there against important at Berkeley, and UCLA rates first-generation status and class rank a step higher too. Berkeley’s filing leans experiential instead: volunteer work and work experience are important there against merely considered at UCLA. A file built on personal story and activities reads stronger at UCLA, on its own account; one built on jobs held and responsibility carried reads stronger at Berkeley.
Cost: nearly identical, until your family earns six figures
Average net price after aid is $13,481 at Berkeley and $12,548 at UCLA — both cheaper than roughly four in five American colleges, which is the quiet astonishment of the UC system. A family earning under $30,000 pays about $5,311 a year at Berkeley and $5,579 at UCLA; through every band up to $110,000 the two stay within roughly $900 of each other.
Above $110,000 they part: $29,682 at UCLA against $34,529 at Berkeley, a gap of $4,847 a year in UCLA’s favour.
These figures average California residents and the far higher-paying out-of-state students together, so they overstate what a typical in-state family pays and understate the out-of-state price. The comparison between the two campuses holds either way — the blend is the same on both sides.
Debt tells the same story as price. The median graduate leaves Berkeley owing $13,000 and UCLA $14,000 — lower than nine in ten US colleges — and Berkeley reports that only 26.1% of its students borrow at all.
Outcomes: the one gap that is not a rounding error
Ten years after enrolling, the median Berkeley student earns $92,446 and the median UCLA student $82,511. That $9,935 gap is the largest real difference between these two schools, and it survives the usual caveats — the two campuses enrol students of strikingly similar profile, so composition explains less of it here than it would elsewhere.
Median earnings, 10 years after entry · US median $53,038 across 1,804 colleges
Earnings of students from the lowest-income third · US median $42,600 across 1,488 colleges
Average net price after aid · US median $20,150 across 1,710 colleges
Median debt at graduation · US median $23,000 across 1,716 colleges
Bar length is the share of US colleges each school beats on that measure; the tick marks the national median. Price and debt are inverted, so a longer bar is always the better outcome. Coverage varies by measure — each line states how many colleges report it. Source: College Scorecard.
The mobility numbers, by contrast, are a dead heat: students from the lowest-income third of families are earning a mean $75,300 at Berkeley and $74,300 at UCLA ten years after entry. Both campuses do this at a scale no private can match — with 28.6% and 28.2% of undergraduates on Pell Grants respectively, roughly double the 12–20% the elite privates on this site report.
Campus
The student bodies are the same size to within two dozen people — 33,513 undergraduates at Berkeley, 33,534 at UCLA. Berkeley runs the slightly smaller classes (18.2:1 student–faculty against 20:1, with 50.9% of classes under 20 students against 46.2%), while UCLA houses more of its newest students — 98.9% of first-years live on campus against 90% at Berkeley.
The same two schools, eight ways
This is the scatter view from FitFinder, loaded with just these two. “A Fighting Chance” is the view worth going to directly — both campuses sit far up and far right, graduating Pell-share numbers most selective schools never attempt.
One caution on the “Where the Tuition Goes” view: UCLA’s instructional spending figure includes its academic medical centre, which Berkeley does not have, so the gap there reflects accounting scope rather than undergraduate teaching.
Go deeper on each school
Frequently asked questions
Is UCLA or Berkeley harder to get into?
UCLA, by the numbers: it admits 9.4% of applicants against Berkeley’s 11.4%, from the larger pool — 145,086 applications against 126,864. Both read the same UC application, so most students simply apply to both.
Can I apply to both UCLA and Berkeley?
Yes, on one application. Both admit through the University of California system application, and neither runs an early decision or early action round, so applying to both costs one extra campus selection and nothing in commitment.
Is Berkeley or UCLA cheaper?
For most families they are effectively identical — average net price after aid is $13,481 at Berkeley and $12,548 at UCLA, and within about $900 of each other at every income band below $110,000. Above that, UCLA is cheaper by $4,847 a year.
Do Berkeley or UCLA graduates earn more?
Berkeley, by $9,935. Median earnings ten years after enrolling are $92,446 for Berkeley and $82,511 for UCLA. For students from the lowest-income third of families the two are a dead heat — $75,300 against $74,300, ten years after entry.
What does UCLA look for compared to Berkeley?
By its own filing, the personal file: UCLA rates character, extracurricular activities and talent very important, each a tier above Berkeley. Berkeley rates volunteer work and work experience higher than UCLA does. Both put GPA, essay and course rigour at the top.
See how they compare against your profile
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