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 one of the top public universities in the nation. 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, Psychology, Sociology 2nd – Part-time MBA, Statistics 3rd – Engineering, Biological Sciences, Clinical Psychology, Earth Sciences, Mathematics, Physics 4th – Economics, Political Science, Public Affairs, Social Work 7th – Business, Biostatistics 10th – Public Health 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 2024 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. Honorable mentions include seventh in ecology and eighth in law. 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 2024-25 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: 31 faculty Nobel Prize winners, Berkeley Inspire 2024 35 alumni Nobel Prize winners; Berkeley Inspire 2024 80 Fellows from 1981 to 2024; MacArthur Fellows 30 National Medal of Science Recipients; The President’s National Medal of Science: Recipient Search 1895 Active Patents (as of 2023); UC Inventions at a Glance The Berkeley Graduate Profile is produced by the Institutional Research and Communications units in the Graduate Division. Additional Resources Faculty Excellence Research Centers Enrollment2024-25 Graduate Student Enrollment Among the 45,882 students at Berkeley, 28% are pursuing doctoral and master’s degrees in more than 130 disciplines. The fall 2024 incoming graduate class of 4,290 students was selected from more than 40,000 applicants. Enrollment (Fall 2024) Doctoral Master’s Total New 4,217 4,207 8,424 Continuing 802 3,586 4,388 Overall 5,052 7,793 12,812 Applicant Age Average 28 Youngest 17 Oldest 84 Women Underrepresented Minorities 47% 15% Ethnic Diversity (United States) Total Asian 2,929 Black/African-American 682 Chicano/Latino 1,179 American Indian/Alaskan Native 73 Pacific Islander 19 White/Caucasian 3,343 Unknown 553 Total 8,866 International Graduate Students (Top 20) Doctoral Master’s Total China 412 532 944 India 120 245 365 Canada 103 163 266 Republic of Korea (South) 119 68 187 Taiwan 73 64 137 Japan 28 62 90 United Kingdom 49 35 84 Germany 32 38 70 France 21 43 64 Brazil 26 33 59 Indonesia 8 45 53 Mexico 18 31 49 Hong Kong 15 33 48 Singapore 17 24 41 Turkey 26 7 33 Chile 13 19 32 Nigeria 4 27 31 Italy 24 6 30 Australia 11 15 26 Columbia 8 18 26 Total 1,127 1,508 2,635 Graduate majors (Fall 2024 Enrollment) Berkeley offers more than 130 graduate majors (master’s, professional, and doctoral), 94 of which grant doctoral degrees. School/College/Division Doctoral Master’s/ First Professional Total Arts & Humanities 546 12 558 Biological Sciences 419 16 435 Business 76 1,832 1,908 Chemistry 483 129 612 Data Science and Society 103 76 179 Education 127 82 209 Engineering 1,288 1,219 2,507 Environmental Design 72 390 462 Information 29 1,215 1,244 Journalism 0 113 113 Law 63 1,288 1,351 Math and Physical Sciences 513 2 515 Natural Resources 380 97 477 Optometry 35 261 296 Other 0 1 1 Public Health 145 655 800 Public Policy 11 270 281 Social Sciences 720 67 787 Social Welfare 21 179 200 TOTAL 12,812 Degrees Granted Degree Date Doctoral Master’s Professional 2009 – 10 891 2,005 394 2010 – 11 918 2,044 372 2011 – 12 892 2,120 372 2012 – 13 937 2,154 367 2013 – 14 936 2,215 351 2014 – 15 826 2,343 339 2015 – 16 818 2,636 392 2016 – 17 818 2,578 364 2017 – 18 869 2,954 371 2018 – 19 877 3,235 395 2019 – 20 806 3,269 397 2020 – 21 794 2,849 391 2021 – 22 836 3,679 423 2022-23 840 3,977 405 2023-24 824 3,853 455 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 from 2019 – 2020 to 2021 – 2022 (based on a survey conducted 12-24 months after graduation). Employer Type Count Percent College or university* 1,281 47% Business (for profit) 970 35% Government 101 4% National laboratory 91 3% Non-profit Organization 77 3% Self-employed 26 1% K-12 school 23 1% Other 22 1% Unknown 157 6% Total 2,748 100% *First positions taken by Berkeley Ph.D.s who went into academia: Type of Position Count Percent Postdoc 681 25% Tenure track faculty 454 17% Researcher 430 16% Engineer 283 10% Analyst 216 8% Non-tenure track faculty 540 7% Manager 85 3% Admin 65 2% Entrepreneur 40 2% Consultant 35 1% Programmer 24 1% Teacher 14 1% Writer 14 1% Other 42 2% Unknown 262 10% Total 2,748 100% 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