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Berkeley University of California

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Berkeley University of California logo

Founded in the wake of the gold rush by leaders of the newly established 31st state, the University of California’s flagship campus at Berkeley has become one of the preeminent universities in the world. Its early guiding lights, charged with providing education (both “practical” and “classical”) for the state’s people, gradually established a distinguished faculty (with 20 Nobel laureates to date), a stellar research library, and more than 350 academic programs.

This California institution became a catalyst of economic growth and social innovation — the place where vitamin E was discovered, a lost Scarlatti opera found, the flu virus identified, and the nation’s first no-fault divorce law drafted. Scholars at Berkeley have conducted groundbreaking research on urban street gangs and on basic human nutritional requirements, identified why wartime supply ships were failing at sea, invented technologies to build faster and cheaper computer chips, and imaged the infant universe.

To date, 20 UC Berkeley faculty have won Nobel awards.

In recognition of broad and deep excellence, respected sources have repeatedly ranked UC Berkeley at or near the top in fields ranging from engineering and the “hard” sciences to the social sciences, arts, and humanities. The National Research Council, in the most recent version of its highly regarded report on U.S. public and private universities, ranked Berkeley no. 1 nationally in the number of campus graduate programs (35 out of 36) among the top 10 in their fields.

In accordance with UC’s “public” character, the university has long served talented individuals regardless of means. As early as 1897, financial aid was available for “needy and deserving” students. More than a century later, UC Berkeley combines outstanding teaching and research programs with broad access for students of all means — educating more federal Pell Grant recipients from low-income families than all eight Ivy League universities combined. Close to 30 percent of UC Berkeley freshmen are the first in their families to attend college.

The University of California was chartered in 1868 and its flagship campus — envisioned as a “City of Learning” — was established at Berkeley, on San Francisco Bay. Today the world’s premier public university and a wellspring of innovation, UC Berkeley occupies a 1,232 acre campus with a sylvan 178-acre central core. From this home its academic community makes key contributions to the economic and social well-being of the Bay Area, California, and the nation.

Student body

Number of students: 35,409 students as of Fall 2008 including 25,151 undergraduates and 10,258 pursuing graduate degrees.

Undergraduate gender: 53% female and 47% male (Fall 2008).
Graduate gender: 55% male and 45% female (Fall 2008) 

Degrees granted in 2007-08: Bachelor’s, 6,960; Master’s and professional degrees, 2,406; Doctoral, 865

Enrollment by ethnicity (Fall 2008)

Faculty

2,028 faculty members dispersed among more than 130 academic departments and more than 80 interdisciplinary research units. 

Student-to-faculty ratio: 15.1 to 1 (Fall, 2007)

Undergraduate classes with fewer than 30 students: 76%

Nobel laureates: Twenty faculty members, including seven current faculty.

National and international awards held by faculty.

Profile of admitted freshman

Number of applicants: 48,400 (Fall 2008)

4,300 students enrolled (Fall 2008)

21.5% of applicants admitted (Fall 2008)

3.82 (on a 4.0 scale) average high-school grade point for admitted freshmen (Fall 2008).

SAT scores: Average SAT Composite score of 1989 for admitted freshmen (Fall 2008).

85% from California (Fall 2008)

75% from public high schools (2008)

64% have at least one parent born outside the U.S. (2006)

30% are first in their family to attend a four-year college (2007)

Fields of study

Motto: Fiat Lux
(”Let there be light”)

130 academic departments and more than 80 interdisciplinary research units.

Colleges and schools: UC Berkeley is divided into 14 colleges and schools, most of which are subdivided into departments.

Most popular majors (as of Fall 2008): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 935 students; Molecular and Cell Biology, 787 students; Political Science, 762 students. 

Courses offered: More than 7,000 courses in some 350 degree programs; the campus produces more Ph.D.s annually than any other U.S. university. (Cal Facts 2008)

Measures of excellence

Rankings: UC Berkeley ranks first nationally in the number of graduate programs in the top 10 in their fields.

Research funding: In the 2007 fiscal year, Berkeley received $504.2 million in research funding — 75% from federal, state, and public sources; 19% from nonprofit sources; and 6% from the private sector. 

Public service by students: In any given year, more than 4,000 Cal students do volunteer work. UC Berkeley continues to be the only school in the country to have produced more than 3,000 Peace Corps volunteers since that organization’s inception in 1961.

Tuition, fees & financial aid

Some 65% of undergraduates receive some form of financial aid. For example, in 2007-08, 33 percent of all Berkeley undergrads were eligible for Pell Grants (family incomes typically less than $45,000 a year). Berkeley educates more of these economically disadvantaged students than all of the Ivy League universities combined. More than 8,400 undergraduates received a total of $40.5 million in scholarships, many of them privately funded.

Average undergraduate student budget 2008-2009:

Living on campus Living off campus Living at home
Registration & fees * $8,932 $8,932 $8,932
Housing, food & utilities 14,494 9,528 4,120
Books and supplies 1,268 1,268 1,268
Personal expenses 1,296 1,430 1,798
Transportation 596 1,002 1,890
Total $26,586 $22,160 $18,008

A health insurance fee of $1,276 is included in student budget, but may be waived if proof of adequate coverage is presented.

* Non-resident tuition add $20,608

Average graduate student budget 2008-09:

Budget item Cost
Housing and utilities $10,240
Food 5,130
Books 1,040
Personal 2,338
Transportation 2,680
Fees 8,516
Health insurance 1,698
Total for California residents $31,642
Nonresident tuition (and Ed. Fee) 15,298
Total for Nonresidents $46,940

These figures are estimated averages for the nine-month academic year. The expenses for Law/MBA/Optometry/JMP/Public Health/Policy students will vary from the above depending on the department, degree program, and year in school.

Campus budget & finances

Revenues: $1.789 billion in 2007-08 : Can also call Controller’s Office Lisa Vanderfin & Yaling Li)

  • Funding sources, 2007-2008 (includes state research funds):
    • State funds: 34%
    • Tuition & fees: 19%
    • Private: 16%
    • Federal research: 18%
    • Other: 13%
  • Sources of private funds, 2005–06: (Source: Cal Facts 2008 Jose)
    • Alumni, parents & friends: 49%
    • Foundations: 31%
    • Corporations: 15%
    • Other sources: 5%

Market value of endowment: $3 billion (June 2008). Birgeneau budget update is source of $3 billion June 08 figure

Philanthropic support: The state supplied 47% of the University’s budget in 1991-92 and today its contribution comes to about 33%. Private support is increasingly critical to preserving Berkeley’s excellence. Alumni, parents, and friends of the campus contributed $267.9 million in gifts and pledges in the 2006-07 fiscal year to support students, faculty, and research. There were 85,061 gifts and pledges from 57,850 donors. (Jose Rodriguez 4/21/08)

Economic impact: UC Berkeley employs 24,700 people. As detailed in a recent economic-impact report, the campus’s direct spending of more than $1 billion in the Bay Area generated an additional $464 million in spending and an additional 9,200 jobs for Bay Area residents.

Research

The cyclotron was invented at Berkeley, launching a research era in which the fundamental structure of matter was discovered.

In the 2006-07 fiscal year, UC Berkeley received $545 million in research funding — 57% from the federal government, 20% from nonprofits; 4% from UC; 6% from the private industry sector, and 13% from other sources.

Inventions/patents as of June 2007:

    • 1,931 total inventions
    • 248 active license agreements
    • 532 active U.S. patents
    • 385 active foreign patents

Libraries and museums

In 2007, the Association of Research Libraries ranked the UC Berkeley’s University Library as the No. 1 public research university library in North America.

Number of libraries: Three main libraries (Doe, Moffitt, and the Bancroft), 18 subject-specialty libraries, and 11 affiliated libraries (with special collections) make up the UC Berkeley Library system.

The Bancroft Library houses the Mark Twain Papers and Project, the world’s largest collection of Twain’s writings, photos, letters, and scrapbooks.

Holdings: The Library has over 10 million book volumes, 90,000 current serial publications, 415,900 pamphlets, 5 million microform items, 410,000 maps, 109,000 government documents, 60,000 sound recordings, and 6,350 videos.

The Berkeley Natural History Museums include the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology; the UC Botanical Garden; the Essig Museum of Entomology; the University and Jepson Herbaria; the Museum of Paleontology; the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology; and the Human Evolution Research Center.

Collections: A full listing of Berkeley’s many valuable collections of non-book artifacts and objects.

The Berkeley Art Museum houses diverse collections of more than 13,000 objects.

The Pacific Film Archive includes 10,000 films.

Athletics

Number of teams: 27 men’s and women’s intercollegiate squads

National championships won by Cal teams: 76

Olympic gold medals won by students and alumni (as individuals and teams): 91; nearly 300 Cal students and alumni have participated in the modern Olympic games as athletes and coaches.

Number of intramural sports offered: 9

Student-athlete academic achievement: Cal’s some 900 student-athletes achieved an average cumulative GPA of 3.0 in the 2007-08 school year. (Herb Benenson)

Alumni

Living alumni: 431,500 (January 2009)

Nobel Prizes won by alumni: 24

Famous alumni: Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple; Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google; Alice Waters, culinary hero; Maxine Hong Kingston, author of “Women Warrior” (see a more extensive list).

Fictional alumni: Jack Bauer, the hero played by Kiefer Sutherland in the hit show “24,” supposedly got his Masters of Science in “Criminology and Law” at Berkeley (no such degree is offered). Joanie Caucus of Doonesbury. C.J. Cregg of “The West Wing.” Elaine, Mrs. Robinson’s daughter in “The Graduate.”

Reference websites

Campus statistics: The Office of Planning & Analysis site includes a number of frequently requested statistics and their comprehensive Berkeley Profile.

Common Data Set: Information on the general campus; enrollment and persistence; first-time, first-year (freshmen) admissions; transfer admissions; academic offerings and policies; student life; annual expenses; financial aid; instructional faculty and class size; and degrees conferred.

Economic impact report for UC Berkeley

Student Data: The Office of Student Research site offers a statistical profile of the student population.

University of California systemwide statistics: Statistical summary and data on UC students, faculty, and staff.

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