# University of California, Berkeley
The [University of California](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-california), Berkeley is a public land-grant (federal land endowment supporting state university) research university in [Berkeley, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/berkeley-california), chartered by the State of California in 1868 and widely ranked as the leading public university in the United States.[1](https://inspire.berkeley.edu/get-inspired/calfacts/) It was formed in Oakland as the merger of the private College of California and the state land-grant Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Arts College, moved to its current campus in 1873, and graduated its first class that year.[2](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf) Its alumni and faculty include 110 Nobel laureates, 103 MacArthur Fellows, and 30 [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) winners.[3](https://graduate.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/berkeley.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | Chartered 1868 by merger of the College of California and the Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Arts College; moved to Berkeley in 1873[2](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf) |
| Enrollment | About 45,900 students in fall 2024: 33,100 undergraduates and 12,800 graduate students[2](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf) |
| Academic scope | More than 300 degree programs in 15 schools and colleges; 117 bachelor's, 152 master's, and 89 research doctorate programs[4](https://www.berkeley.edu/academics/) • [2](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf) |
| Selectivity | 126,842 freshman applicants for 2025-26, 14,451 admitted (about 11%), 6,740 statements of intent to register[5](https://opa.berkeley.edu/campus-data/uc-berkeley-quick-facts) |
| Finances | $4.1 billion annual budget and $8.5 billion endowment in 2024-25, with a $280 million endowment payout[1](https://inspire.berkeley.edu/get-inspired/calfacts/) |
| Budget pressure | Planned $131 million (3%) deficit for FY 2024-25 and a $13 billion deferred maintenance and seismic backlog[2](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf) |
| Honors | 110 Nobel laureates, 103 MacArthur Fellows, 30 Pulitzer Prize winners among alumni and faculty[3](https://graduate.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/berkeley.html) |
## History
The university opened after the gold rush, when the private College of California in Oakland merged with the new state land-grant institution, the Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Arts College.[6](https://www.berkeley.edu/about/history-discoveries/) It began with 10 faculty members, 40 students, and three fields of study.[4](https://www.berkeley.edu/academics/) From that base it has grown to more than 1,500 faculty, about 45,000 students, and over 300 degree programs.[4](https://www.berkeley.edu/academics/)
**Physics and the laboratory tradition.** Ernest O. Lawrence designed the first cyclotron, launching the scientific use of particle physics to probe the structure of matter; he became Berkeley's first Nobel laureate in 1939.[6](https://www.berkeley.edu/about/history-discoveries/) That lineage continues in contemporary biology: Jennifer Doudna won the 2020 [Nobel Prize in Chemistry](https://www.edgepedia.org/nobel-prize-in-chemistry), shared with [Emmanuelle Charpentier](https://www.edgepedia.org/emmanuelle-charpentier), for co-developing CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, a technique the university describes as having revolutionized biomedicine.[6](https://www.berkeley.edu/about/history-discoveries/)
**The Free Speech Movement.** Over the fall 1964 semester, students and administrators clashed over the right to advocate for political causes on campus. [Mario Savio](https://www.edgepedia.org/mario-savio) and other students were suspended, held rallies, and went on strike as leaders of the [Free Speech Movement](https://www.edgepedia.org/free-speech-movement).[6](https://www.berkeley.edu/about/history-discoveries/)
**Proposition 209.** California voters approved [Proposition](https://www.edgepedia.org/proposition) 209, which curtailed affirmative-action programs in California public institutions. Soon after it took effect, admissions of Chicano/Latino, African American, and Native American students declined.[6](https://www.berkeley.edu/about/history-discoveries/) The composition of the fall 2024 student body was 36% Asian Non-Underrepresented, 22% White, 18% Chicanx/Latinx, and 4% African American/Black.[2](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf)
## Academics and research
Berkeley's academic enterprise is organized into 15 schools and colleges offering more than 300 degree programs.[4](https://www.berkeley.edu/academics/) In fall 2024 the 33,100 undergraduates studied in 117 bachelor's degree programs, while the 12,800 graduate students worked across 152 master's programs, 10 professional doctorate programs, and 89 research doctorate programs.[2](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf) The university holds WSCUC accreditation, first granted in 1949, and the 2024 report classified it as a doctoral university with Very High Research Activity under the Carnegie Classification.[2](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf)
The library holds more than 15.2 million volumes in over 400 languages.[1](https://inspire.berkeley.edu/get-inspired/calfacts/) 23 undergraduate programs rank in the U.S. News Top 5 nationally, including civil engineering (No. 1), economics (No. 2, tie), and artificial intelligence (No. 4), and more than 40 graduate divisions rank in the Top 10, including chemistry (No. 1 tie), earth sciences (No. 2), and engineering (No. 3).[1](https://inspire.berkeley.edu/get-inspired/calfacts/) The National Research Council gives more of Berkeley's graduate programs top ranks than it does any other U.S. university.[3](https://graduate.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/berkeley.html)
## Admissions and student body
Undergraduate admission is highly selective. For 2025-26, 126,842 freshman applicants produced 14,451 admissions and 6,740 statements of intent to register, an admit rate of about 11%.[5](https://opa.berkeley.edu/campus-data/uc-berkeley-quick-facts) The admitted class was 78% California residents, with a 3.93 average unweighted high school GPA, and 26% of new freshmen were the first in their families to attend a four-year college.[1](https://inspire.berkeley.edu/get-inspired/calfacts/) Transfer admission is a separate and substantial channel: 23,337 transfer applicants yielded 5,563 admissions and 3,333 statements of intent to register.[5](https://opa.berkeley.edu/campus-data/uc-berkeley-quick-facts)
The campus draws broadly but remains predominantly in-state. In fall 2024, 67% of students were California residents, 12% domestic non-residents, and 16% international non-residents; 21% of undergraduates had transferred in, 90% of them from California community colleges.[2](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf) Financial aid reaches most of the student body: 62% of undergraduates receive some form of aid, and $63.2 million in privately funded undergraduate scholarships went to 5,862 recipients in 2024-25.[1](https://inspire.berkeley.edu/get-inspired/calfacts/)
## Governance and finances
Berkeley is governed by the 26-member UC Board of Regents but operates with significant campus autonomy. Senior leadership follows a "two-person box" model in which the chancellor and the executive vice chancellor and provost co-lead the institution as a team.[2](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf)
The financial picture combines scale with strain. The annual budget was $4.1 billion in 2024-25, supported by an $8.5 billion endowment that paid out $280 million to the campus.[1](https://inspire.berkeley.edu/get-inspired/calfacts/) Private giving totaled more than $792 million in gifts and pledges from over 57,000 donors, covering 13% of Berkeley's 2024-25 spending.[1](https://inspire.berkeley.edu/get-inspired/calfacts/) Weighed against those resources, the campus budgeted a 3% shortfall, $131 million, for fiscal year 2024-25, attributing it to state funding that fell below expectations along with rising operating expenses, chiefly labor; an even bigger shortfall was expected in 2025-26 because of an additional substantial drop in state support.[2](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf) The deferred maintenance, renewal, and seismic backlog stood at $13 billion in 2024 dollars.[2](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf)
## By the numbers
Fall 2025 undergraduate enrollment was 33,122.[1](https://inspire.berkeley.edu/get-inspired/calfacts/) Students who enroll tend to stay and finish: 97% of fall 2024 new freshmen and 96% of new transfers returned in fall 2025, and 81% of undergraduates graduate within four years, rising to 92% within five and 94% within six.[5](https://opa.berkeley.edu/campus-data/uc-berkeley-quick-facts)
In the 2025 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship competition, Berkeley placed second with 49 fellows, behind Stanford's 51 and ahead of Harvard's 32, Yale's 28, UCLA's 26, and Princeton's 18; among public universities it led the list shown.[1](https://inspire.berkeley.edu/get-inspired/calfacts/) Athletics adds a further dimension: Cal teams claim 105 team national titles across 15 sports and 332 individual titles.[1](https://inspire.berkeley.edu/get-inspired/calfacts/)
## References
1. [Cal Facts, Berkeley Inspire](https://inspire.berkeley.edu/get-inspired/calfacts/)
2. [WSCUC UCB Team Report, Fall 2024 (University of California, Berkeley)](https://ue.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_-_team_report_tpr_fall_2024_2.pdf)
3. [Berkeley campus profile, University of California Graduate Division](https://graduate.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/berkeley.html)
4. [Academics, University of California, Berkeley](https://www.berkeley.edu/academics/)
5. [UC Berkeley Quick Facts, Office of Planning and Analysis](https://opa.berkeley.edu/campus-data/uc-berkeley-quick-facts)
6. [History & discoveries, University of California, Berkeley](https://www.berkeley.edu/about/history-discoveries/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Education and knowledge institutions › Higher education › Universities and colleges in the Americas › Universities in the Western United States*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license