Berkeley Graduate Student ProfileUC 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. RankingsEnrollmentCareer OutcomesStudent FundingRankings 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 fifth in the world. Ranking higher than Columbia, Yale and UCLA. In the new rankings, Berkeley’s graduate programs placed first in the world in Chemistry, Computer Science, English, History, Part-time MBA, Psychology, and Sociology. 14 other subject areas ranked in the top 10. 1st – Chemistry, Computer Science, English, History, Part-time MBA, Psychology, Sociology 2nd – Statistics 3rd – Biological Sciences, Clinical Psychology, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics 4th – Economics, Political Science, Public Affairs 5th – Social Work 7th – Biostatistics 9th – Public Health 10th – 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, second in electrical and electronic engineering, fourth in physics and statistics, and fifth in economics and computer science & engineering. Berkeley Stands Tall in World Reputation Rankings For the seventh 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 2023 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: 26 faculty Nobel Prize winners,including 10 current faculty members; Cal Facts 2022 32 alumni Nobel Prize winners; Cal Facts 2022 75 Fellows from 1981 to 2022; MacArthur Fellows 30 National Medal of Science Recipients; The President’s National Medal of Science: Recipient Search The Berkeley Graduate Profile is produced by the Institutional Research and Communications units in the Graduate Division. Additional Resources Faculty Excellence Research Centers Enrollment2022-23 Graduate Student Enrollment Among the 45,699 students at Berkeley, nearly 28% are pursuing doctoral and master’s degrees in more than 120 disciplines. The fall 2023 incoming graduate class of 4,290 students was selected from more than 40,000 applicants. Enrollment (Fall 2023) Doctoral Master’s Total New 757 3,405 4,162 Continuing 4,295 4,164 8,787 Overall 5,052 7,569 12,621 Applicant Age Average 28 Youngest 19 Oldest 75 Women Underrepresented Minorities 48% 15% Ethnic Diversity (United States) Total Asian 2,739 Black/African-American 650 Chicano/Mexican-American 682 Latino/Other Spanish-American 485 American Indian/Alaskan Native 68 Pacific Islander 15 White/Caucasian 3,370 Unknown 582 Total 8,866 International Graduate Students (Top 16) Doctoral Master’s Total China 443 473 916 India 127 280 407 Canada 95 154 249 Republic of Korea (South) 115 64 179 Taiwan 77 74 151 France 24 71 95 Japan 24 67 91 United Kingdom 43 28 71 Germany 35 33 68 Hong Kong 18 39 57 Singapore 15 41 56 Brazil 26 28 54 Mexico 26 25 51 Indonesia 8 38 46 Turkey 32 6 38 Australia 14 21 35 Total 1,122 1,442 2,564 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 OutcomesCareer 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 Postdoc 2,200 28% Tenure track faculty 1,203 16% Non-tenure track faculty 540 7% Other 3,808 49% Total 7,751 100% Student FundingSources of financial support for graduate students 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