UC Berkeley, or Cal for short, is one of the most selective public colleges in the country, with an acceptance rate around 11%. A respected research institution, Cal gives students access to a faculty that includes numerous MacArthur fellows, Pulitzer Prize winners and Nobel laureates, including biologist Randy Schekman, who received the 2013 Nobel Prize for medicine, and biochemist Jennifer Doudna, a 2020 Nobel Laureate in chemistry.
As with many big universities, lower-level classes are large, and class sizes have grown over the past few years. The average class size for undergraduates is about 50, though some intro-level classes have more than 1,000 students.
Sports are a big attraction on campus. The Golden Bears' Division I sports teams tend to be very strong: Cal athletes have won more than 100 national titles, and the university’s football rivalry with nearby Stanford is legendary.
As a public university, Cal is one of the most affordable elite schools on our list, and the degree can help graduates earn solid salaries. Grads earn a median of $96,000 four years after leaving school. Notable alumni span a variety of industries and include Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, actor Chris Pine, Olympic gold medalist Ryan Murphy, and the founders of fashion label Rodarte, Kate and Laura Mulleavy.
