College Viability Inspection Report

University of California-Berkeley

California · Public

University of California-Berkeley is a public institution in California, enrolling 33,838 students as of 2024. It graduates 82% of students in four years, returns 97% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $16,538 a year after grants and scholarships. None of the 9 inspection checks that could be evaluated for University of California-Berkeley are flagged. This report benchmarks University of California-Berkeley's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.

Data note: The U.S. Department of Education's IPEDS database did not include every reported figure for University of California-Berkeley between 2020 and 2024. 2 indicators have IPEDS data missing for one or more years 2020–2024 (including 1 with no year reported at all) — affected indicators are tagged below; missing years are shown as gaps in trend charts rather than estimated.

University of California-Berkeley Inspection Flags

Student Outcomes
Financial Health
Value for Your Money

Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.

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College Viability
Data Summary

University of California-Berkeley — All Reported Indicators

Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for University of California-Berkeley. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.

Student Outcomes

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Four-Year Graduation Rate82.0%+10.8%95th
Six-Year Graduation Rate94.0%+3.3%97th
Full-Time Retention Rate97.0%+1.0%94th
Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate86.9%-2.2%94th
Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap7.7pp+61.9%44th
Pell Share of Cohort22.8%-13.0%20th

Financial Health

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Revenue-to-Expense Ratio1.01×not reported31st
Total FTE Enrollment33,838+5.3%99th
Endowment Value$3.18B+46.1%98th
Net Assets (End of Year)not reportednot reportednot reported

Value for Money

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Instructional Spending %25.8%not reported22nd
Student Support Spending %8.6%not reported30th
Administrative Spending %10.8%not reported18th
Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio3.19×-18.9%62nd
Average Net Price$16,538-14.4%40th
Net Price: $0-30K Income$5,311-37.1%9th
Net Price: $30K-48K Income$6,501-35.0%12th
Net Price: $48-75K Income$9,693-27.8%14th
Net Price: $75K-110K Income$15,074-30.2%22nd
Net Price: $110K+ Income$34,529+1.9%82nd

Inspection Flags

FlagSectionStatus
Retention Below 80%
University of California-Berkeley's retention rate stayed at or above 96% in all 5 reported years — above the 80% threshold.
Student OutcomesCleared
Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50%
University of California-Berkeley's 4-year graduation rate stayed at or above 74% in all 5 reported years — above the 50% threshold.
Student OutcomesCleared
Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points
University of California-Berkeley's Pell graduation gap stayed at or below 10 percentage points in all 5 eligible years.
Student OutcomesCleared
Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0
University of California-Berkeley's ratio fell below 1.0 in 1 of 4 reported years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold.
Financial HealthCleared
Enrollment Declined 5% or More
University of California-Berkeley's total enrollment grew from 32,128 to 33,838 students between 2020 and 2024 (+5.3%).
Financial HealthCleared
Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15%
University of California-Berkeley's endowment is $3.18B and grew +46.1% between 2020 and 2024 — clearing both the $50 million size threshold and the 15% growth threshold.
Financial HealthCleared
High Cost, Low Completion
University of California-Berkeley costs less than the national median AND graduates students at above-median rates — neither condition for this flag is met.
Value for MoneyCleared
Spending on Students Below the National Median
University of California-Berkeley spends $3.19 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin in 2024 — at or above the national median of $2.75 in every reported year.
Value for MoneyCleared
Rising Price, Falling Outcomes
Either net price did not rise or the graduation rate did not decline between 2020 and 2024 — flag not triggered.
Value for MoneyCleared