Which UC Berkeley major has the lowest debt?

Chemistry graduates leave with a median of $11,172 in federal loans, the lowest among 46 UC Berkeley bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does UC Berkeley cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $16,347 a year, and $50,547 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $13,481 a year.

How many UC Berkeley programs report graduate pay?

48 bachelor's programs at UC Berkeley report first-year pay, and 46 of them also report federal debt.

UC Berkeley Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

University of California-Berkeley
Public university
Berkeley, CA
33,068 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

48 UC Berkeley bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Computer Science pays the most in the first year ($149,866), and Music the least ($14,166). The median program pays $46,667.

In-state tuition and fees$16,347Per year. Out-of-state $50,547

Average net price after aid$13,481Per year

Graduation rate93%Within 6 years

Admission rate11%Of applicants

All 48 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in California" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across California. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in California
1	Computer ScienceAbout 994 graduates a year	$149,866	$225,140	$13,900	2nd of 39
2	Electrical EngineeringAbout 480 graduates a year	$137,295	$240,462	$14,437	1st of 21
3	Business AdministrationAbout 428 graduates a year	$90,008	$145,003	$12,195	1st of 57
4	Operations ResearchAbout 63 graduates a year	$88,685	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 2
5	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 188 graduates a year	$88,497	$112,325	$13,200	2nd of 26
6	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 737 graduates a year	$88,030	Not reported	$13,550	2nd of 18
7	StatisticsAbout 122 graduates a year	$83,227	$145,658	$16,165	1st of 7
8	Chemical EngineeringAbout 149 graduates a year	$81,553	$126,322	$18,155	1st of 10
9	EconomicsAbout 909 graduates a year	$80,446	$125,636	$13,000	3rd of 35
10	Civil EngineeringAbout 103 graduates a year	$78,142	$104,581	$14,392	5th of 20
11	Biomedical EngineeringAbout 113 graduates a year	$73,348	$89,225	$14,896	6th of 15
12	Applied MathematicsAbout 264 graduates a year	$71,814	$144,689	$14,598	1st of 8
13	Cognitive ScienceAbout 257 graduates a year	$64,559	$100,651	$13,950	2nd of 8
14	Other Social SciencesAbout 193 graduates a year	$61,109	$113,294	$15,000	1st of 4
15	ChemistryAbout 129 graduates a year	$59,576	$65,228	$11,172	1st of 23
16	Urban StudiesAbout 35 graduates a year	$58,171	$105,067	$14,444	1st of 5
17	Astronomy and AstrophysicsAbout 46 graduates a year	$54,746	Not reported	$19,500	1st of 2
18	ArchitectureAbout 106 graduates a year	$50,917	$79,951	$15,000	3rd of 5
19	Area StudiesAbout 57 graduates a year	$50,728	$92,837	$14,972	1st of 8
20	MicrobiologyAbout 58 graduates a year	$50,706	Not reported	$14,308	3rd of 13
21	PhysicsAbout 110 graduates a year	$50,219	Not reported	$15,508	6th of 11
22	Public HealthAbout 202 graduates a year	$48,351	$81,604	$11,729	2nd of 16
23	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 464 graduates a year	$47,338	$89,932	$12,988	2nd of 24
24	MathematicsAbout 96 graduates a year	$46,674	$87,173	$20,500	4th of 23
25	International StudiesAbout 80 graduates a year	$46,660	Not reported	$15,636	1st of 9
26	Other Interdisciplinary StudiesAbout 70 graduates a year	$45,461	$93,915	$14,500	4th of 8
27	Political ScienceAbout 418 graduates a year	$45,418	$78,026	$13,000	3rd of 44
28	Social WorkAbout 81 graduates a year	$44,906	$68,779	$13,719	2nd of 16
29	Writing and RhetoricAbout 42 graduates a year	$44,553	$69,742	$14,037	1st of 10
30	Legal StudiesAbout 234 graduates a year	$43,886	$78,127	$13,723	2nd of 3
31	CommunicationsAbout 265 graduates a year	$43,696	$93,369	$11,180	7th of 39
32	Landscape ArchitectureAbout 13 graduates a year	$43,413	Not reported	Not reported	3rd of 3
33	Cell Biology and AnatomyAbout 761 graduates a year	$43,270	$70,181	$14,000	4th of 10
34	Romance LanguagesAbout 58 graduates a year	$40,818	$65,810	$11,593	2nd of 23
35	SociologyAbout 294 graduates a year	$40,774	$78,070	$13,131	4th of 42
36	BiologyAbout 168 graduates a year	$36,642	$76,503	$14,000	10th of 47
37	PhilosophyAbout 98 graduates a year	$36,355	$55,247	$14,475	2nd of 15
38	Nutrition ScienceAbout 104 graduates a year	$35,161	$77,253	$16,182	1st of 9
39	Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender StudiesAbout 112 graduates a year	$34,559	$60,614	$15,740	5th of 21
40	Experimental PsychologyAbout 390 graduates a year	$34,450	Not reported	$12,111	1st of 8
41	Film and PhotographyAbout 112 graduates a year	$29,011	$38,182	$15,693	6th of 25
42	HistoryAbout 105 graduates a year	$28,849	$62,873	$13,068	14th of 30
43	AnthropologyAbout 73 graduates a year	$28,661	$63,390	$12,949	7th of 22
44	EnglishAbout 240 graduates a year	$27,462	$59,480	$13,500	12th of 35
45	Linguistics and Language StudiesAbout 88 graduates a year	$25,059	$59,312	$14,000	3rd of 12
46	TheatreAbout 30 graduates a year	$22,610	Not reported	$15,112	7th of 23
47	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 127 graduates a year	$20,368	$58,001	$13,254	23rd of 29
48	MusicAbout 42 graduates a year	$14,166	Not reported	$12,800	23rd of 24

Program names link to the program's own page, and California ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five California programs in the field do too.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Computer Science$149,866
Electrical Engineering$137,295
Business Administration$90,008
Operations Research$88,685
Mechanical Engineering$88,497

Lowest median debt

Largest programs

Computer ScienceAbout 994 graduates a year
EconomicsAbout 909 graduates a year
Cell Biology and AnatomyAbout 761 graduates a year
Computer and Information ScienceAbout 737 graduates a year
Electrical EngineeringAbout 480 graduates a year

Common questions

Computer Science graduates earn a median of $149,866 in their first year, the most of 48 UC Berkeley bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels