Berkeley Graduate Student Profile

Berkeley Graduate Student Profile 2022-23

UC Berkeley is famed for the breadth, depth, and reach of more than 120 graduate programs in 15 schools and colleges. Our passion for critical inquiry, debate, discovery and innovation is informed by a deep commitment to contributing to a better world. Nearly all first-year students cite the outstanding reputation and quality of their graduate program as important in their decision to enroll at Berkeley. Typically, half of admitted applicants choose Berkeley over other offers. View our Graduate Student Profile brochure as a PDF.

Rankings and other measures of excellence

Overall UC Berkeley rankings can be found here.

U.S. News and World Report

Yet again U.S. News & World Report ranked UC Berkeley as the number 1 public university in the nation, tied with UCLA.

The new “Best Global Universities Rankings” of U.S. News & World Report placed UC Berkeley fourth in the world. Only Harvard, MIT, and Stanford ranked higher.

In the new rankings, Berkeley’s graduate programs placed first in the world in English, history, psychology, and sociology; second in chemistry, computer science, earth sciences, physics and statistics. Nine other subject areas ranked in the top 10.

  • 1st – English, History, Psychology, Sociology
  • 2nd – Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Physics, Statistics
  • 3rd – Mathematics, Biological Sciences, Clinical Psychology, Engineering, Social Welfare, Public Affairs
  • 4th – Economics, Political Science
  • 7th – Biostatistics
  • 8th – Business (#2 in Part-time MBA), Public Health
  • 9th – Law (#1 for business corporate law)

Academic Rankings of World Universities

New global rankings place UC Berkeley at the pinnacle of public universities on the U.S. and fifth overall in the world. The 2022 Academic Rankings of World Universities is an assessment of 500 top institutions around the globe by the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy. 

Among 54 subject areas, Berkeley ranked first in the world in chemistry and electrical and electronic engineering, and third in the world in computer science and engineering and statistics.

In addition, Berkeley ranked fifth in economics and sociology.

Berkeley Stands Tall in World Reputation Rankings

For the sixth year in a row, UC Berkeley ranks sixth in the world when it comes to its reputation among its peers, according to new rankings from Times Higher Education.

The six “most powerful global brands” in the U.K. publication’s annual World Reputation Rankings vary little from year to year, with Harvard at the top, then MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, and then Berkeley.

Berkeley Again Shines as Top U.S. Public University in Forbes Rankings

New rankings from the financial publication Forbes, again place Berkeley at the very top of the list of public universities in the United States.

On the new Forbes Top Colleges 2021 list, Berkeley is the only public university among the top five schools overall.

Graduate Alumni Accomplishments

UC Berkeley alumni are among the most accomplished in their fields. Below is just a snapshot of graduate alumni accolades:

The Berkeley Graduate Profile is produced by the Institutional Research and Communications units in the Graduate Division. 

Additional Resources

2022-23 Graduate Student Enrollment

 

 

 

 

 

 

Among the 45,307 students at Berkeley, nearly 28% are pursuing doctoral and master’s degrees in more than 100 disciplines.

The fall 2022 incoming graduate class of 4,041 students was selected from more than 40,000 applicants.

Enrollment (Fall 2022) Doctoral Master’s Total
New 802 3,239 4,041
Continuing 4,337 4,450 8,787
Overall 5,139 7,689 12,828
Applicant Age
Average 28
Youngest 18
Oldest 74
Women Underrepresented Minorities
48% 15%
Ethnic Diversity (United States) Total
Asian 2,680
Black/African-American 678
Chicano/Mexican-American 694
Latino/Other Spanish-American 524
American Indian/Alaskan Native 67
Pacific Islander 19
White/Caucasian 3,616
Unknown 588
Total 8,866
International Graduate Students (Top 16) Doctoral Master’s Total
China 600 992 1,592
India 152 567 719
Canada 91 161 252
South Korea 128 98 226
Taiwan 73 70 143
Mexico 43 85 128
France 24 69 93
Japan 25 54 79
Brazil 33 41 74
Germany 41 28 69
Chile 27 27 54
Turkey 38 16 54
Indonesia 13 40 53
UK 30 23 53
Colombia 29 22 51
Total 1,347 2,293 3,640

Graduate majors (Fall 2022 Enrollment)

Berkeley offers more than 100 graduate majors (master’s and doctoral), 93 of which grant doctoral degrees.

School/College Doctoral Master’s/
First Professional		 Total
Business Administration 65 1,705 1,770
Chemistry 504 58 562
Education 136 101 237
Engineering 1,348 1,176 2,524
Environmental Design 69 416 485
Journalism — 119 119
Law 63 1,284 1,347
Letters & Science (all divisions) 2,252 162 2,414
Arts & Humanities 554 26 580
Biological Sciences 457 — 457
Mathematics & Physical Sciences 561 72 633
Social Sciences 679 64 743
Natural Resources 364 50 414
Optometry 31 262 293
Public Health 150 694 844
Public Policy 11 255 266
School of Information 25 1,308 1,333
Social Welfare 26 193 219
TOTAL 5,040 7,788 12,828

Degrees Granted

Degree Date Doctoral Master’s/Professional
2006 – 07 895 2,351
2007 – 08 864 2,406
2008 – 09 863 2,385
2009 – 10 888 2,397
2010 – 11 906 2,481
2011 – 12 887 2,506
2012 – 13 936 2,552
2013 – 14 930 2,045
2014 – 15 1,066 2,764
2015 – 16 818 3,084
2016 – 17 765 2,991
2017 – 18 963 3,531
2018 – 19 887 4,538
2019 – 20
 807 3,663
2020 – 21 794 3,238
2021 – 22 836 4,098

Career Outcomes

Top 5 academic institutions that hire Berkeley Ph.D.s

  • University of California System
  • Stanford
  • Princeton
  • MIT
  • Harvard

Long-term employment trends

(Based on a survey of Ph.D. recipients who graduated between 2013 to 2017)

  • 54.1% of Berkeley doctoral alumni (and 78% arts and humanities Ph.D.s) work in 4-year academic institutions compared to 41.4% nation-wide
  • 31.4% work in the private for-profit sector
  • 3.4% work in the non-profit sector or for the state, local or national government
  • 3.9% are self-employed or have other employment

Career placement of doctoral degree recipients

First positions of students who graduated between 2011 – 2020 (based on a survey conducted 12-18 months after graduation).

Industry Count Percent
College or university* 3,761 53%
Business (for profit) 2,241 32%
National laboratory 319 5%
Government 227 3%
Other 200 3%
K-12 school 111 2%
Unknown 82 1%
Self-employed 62 1%
Hospital/clinic 47 1%
Total 7,058 100%

*First positions taken by Berkeley Ph.D.s who went into academia:

Type of Position Count Percent
Tenure track faculty 1,075 15%
Postdoc 2,001 29%
Non-tenure track faculty 508 7%
Other 3,389 49%
Total 6,972 100%

Sources of financial support for graduate students (2022 – 2023)

Most admitted doctoral students are funded in full for the majority of their study. In some cases that funding includes teaching and research appointments which are covered by collective bargaining agreements and come with many benefits of employment.

Funding packages

Berkeley offers multi-year funding packages to most entering doctoral students, including those who will enhance the diversity of the graduate student population. Recipients are selected by their departments at the admissions stage.

Multi-year packages typically include:

  • 2 years of fellowship funding
  • 2-3 years of departmental funding: combination of GSI (teaching) or GSR (research) appointments and/or fellowship
    • and/or 1 year of Doctoral Completion Fellowship*

Departmental funding often includes funding from a variety of sources, including university fellowships, departmental fellowships, training grant awards, GSI (teaching) appointments, and GSR (research) positions. Note that GSI and GSR positions, and all terms and conditions of employment, are covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

External multi-year fellowships, such as the NSF GRFP, NDSEG (DoD), Hertz, and others, are integrated into departmental funding packages.

*The Doctoral Completion Fellowship provides one year of fellowship funding to students in certain Humanities and Social Science disciplines, for use after advancement to doctoral candidacy.

Other Campus Funding Opportunities

  • Conference Travel Grants
  • Parent Grants
  • Research Grants/Fellowships (from Institutes/Centers and others)
  • Training Grant Programs