University of California--Berkeley is a public institution that was founded in 1868. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 25,951, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 1,232 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. University of California--Berkeley's ranking in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 20. Its in-state tuition and fees are $13,844 (2014-15); out-of-state tuition and fees are $25,064 (2014-15).

The University of California—Berkeley, often referred to as Cal, is situated overlooking the San Francisco Bay. Berkeley guarantees two years of housing for incoming freshmen in a number of residence halls throughout campus. There are more than 1,200 student organizations on campus, ranging from political groups to a hang gliding club and everything in between. Berkeley also has a thriving Greek life with more than 55 fraternity and sorority chapters. The California Golden Bears, Berkeley’s athletic teams, compete in the Pac-12 Conference and are known for their traditional arch rivalry with Stanford.

Berkeley is comprised of 14 schools and colleges, including a number of graduate and professional schools such as the School of Optometry, Graduate School of Journalism and College of Environmental Design. Other graduate programs are the highly ranked Haas School of Business, Graduate School of Education,College of Engineering, School of Law, School of Social Welfare,School of Public Health and Goldman School of Public Policy. Berkeley is well known as a hub of liberal student activity: the Free Speech Movement—a 1964 student protest at Berkeley in response to the administration’s attempt to remove student political groups from campus—gained widespread national attention. Distinguished alumni include former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley and actor John Cho of the "Harold and Kumar" films. Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project during WWII to develop the atomic bomb, was a physicist and professor at Berkeley.110 Sproul Hall

Berkeley, CA 94720-5800

Phone: (510) 642-6000

2014-2015 Tuition & Fees

$13,844 in-state

$25,064 out-of-state

Students

25,951 enrolled

48% male / 52% female

Admissions

Nov. 30 application deadline

17.7% accepted