10-yr median earnings
$80,735
Federal aid recipients only
Public · Irvine, California
University of California-Irvine
University of California-Irvine is a public institution in Irvine, California. Graduates earn a median of $80,735 ten years after enrollment at an average net price of $14,251/yr.
- $80,735
- 10-yr median earnings
- $14,251
- Avg net price / yr
- 28.6%
- Acceptance rate
- 86.4%
- 4-yr completion
The verdict
University of California-Irvine pairs top-5% graduate earnings with a selective admit.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
- Top 2%
- graduate earnings, US
- 28.6%
- acceptance rate
- 86.4%
- 4-yr completion
- +44%
- earnings, 6→10 yrs
City: Large
Carnegie: R1
University of California-Irvine is a public institution in Irvine, California enrolling 30,197 students, according to the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard's 2024-25 release. The acceptance rate is 28.6%. Graduates earn a median of $80,735 ten years after enrollment, based on U.S. Treasury tax records linked to federal financial aid data. The average net price after financial aid is $14,251. This profile includes admissions data, graduation rates, program-level earnings, and cost breakdowns to help students compare colleges using official federal data.
Data updated July 2026
What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for University of California-Irvine
University of California-Irvine operates as a public institution located in Irvine, California (city: large), with a total reported enrollment of 30,197 students of which 31,738 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile's peer group and cost cohort are determined; University of California-Irvine is categorized as "Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activity" under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.
Admissions and cost figures below come from the same annual IPEDS Fall enrollment survey and net-price calculation that every Title IV institution is legally required to submit to the federal government, so the same standardized methodology applies whether comparing a public flagship or a small private college. Net price nets grant and scholarship aid out of the published sticker price, the number financial-aid experts consider the honest comparison point - the table further down breaks that figure out by family income band rather than a single blended average, since what one family actually pays can look very different from what another family pays at the identical school.
The outcomes further down come from federal tax records the U.S. Treasury links to former students who received federal financial aid, not a self-reported alumni survey - an approach that removes response bias but also means graduates who never took federal aid are absent from the earnings figures. Completion and retention rates only count first-time, full-time degree-seeking students, so a school with a large transfer or part-time population can serve those students well without that showing up in these particular metrics. Reading the cost, completion, and earnings figures together, rather than any single one in isolation, is the approach the College Scorecard's own methodology recommends for judging return on investment.
College Value Score
B+
College Value Score
77/100
University of California-Irvine
A 6-metric composite of earnings, cost, and completion outcomes benchmarked against every reporting US college, not a ranking of teaching quality, campus life, or fit for any individual student. See the full methodology.
Earnings A+
$80,735
10-year median graduate earnings
Net Price C+
$14,251
Average annual cost after grants and aid
Graduation Rate N/A
N/A
6-year completion rate
Debt D
$15,000
Median federal debt at graduation
Loan Repayment A+
82.7%
Borrowers repaying loans within 3 years
Retention A+
94.0%
First-year students returning for year two
Each axis is the percentile score shown in the breakdown at left; the shape shows this school's overall profile at a glance.
Avg net price
$14,251
After grants and scholarships
4-yr completion
86.4%
First-time, full-time bachelor's
4-year completion vs national average (40%) 86.4%
Higher is better
College ROI Quadrant - University of California-Irvine vs peers
Each dot is a college plotted by 10-year median earnings (x-axis) vs average net price (y-axis), colored by 4-year graduation rate. Top-left = best ROI; bottom-right = avoid.
How University of California-Irvine ranks nationally
Where this school's graduate earnings fall within the full national distribution of every US college that reports to the College Scorecard, not just its peer set.
University of California-Irvine: graduate earnings vs. every US college
10-year median earnings, College Scorecard
$80,735 Top 2% higher than 98% of 5,103 US colleges
Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more US colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard · 2024
Quick Facts
30,197
Total enrollment
28.6%
Acceptance rate
-
SAT average
86.4%
4-yr graduation rate
$80,735
10-yr median earnings
94.0%
First-year retention
Admissions
| Admission Rate | 28.6% |
Share of applicants admitted
Costs & Financial Aid
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $15,722 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $49,922 |
| Average Net Price | $14,251 |
Net Price by Family Income
| $0 – $30,000 | $8,123 |
| $30,001 – $48,000 | $9,313 |
| $48,001 – $75,000 | $11,642 |
| Over $110,000 | $30,546 |
36.1%
Pell Grant Rate
20.3%
Federal Loan Rate
$15,000
Median Debt
$159/mo
Monthly Payment
Student Demographics
Race & ethnicity
Student body at a glance
56.6%
Female
44.0%
First Generation
Outcomes
86.4%
4-Year Completion Rate
94.0%
Retention Rate
$56,210
Median Earnings (6yr)
$80,735
Median Earnings (10yr)
71.1%
Earning Over $25K
82.7%
Loan Repayment, Completers (3yr)
Programs & Earnings
Top programs at University of California-Irvine by graduate earnings
Median earnings of program completers, College Scorecard field-of-study file
- Health and Medical Adminis…
Health and Medical Administrative Services
$215,277 median earnings
- Computer Science
Computer Science
$175,922 median earnings
- Human Computer Interaction
Human Computer Interaction
$175,307 median earnings
- Law
Law
$153,307 median earnings
- Business Administration, M…
Business Administration, Management and Operations
$148,411 median earnings
- Medicine
Medicine
$143,530 median earnings
- Computer Engineering
Computer Engineering
$132,357 median earnings
- Registered Nursing, Nursin…
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
$128,924 median earnings
What this shows The highest-earning programs at a school are not necessarily its most popular ones - a small specialized program can post strong median earnings without reflecting the outcome most students here actually see.
| Program | Credential | Completers | Median Earnings | Median Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health and Medical Administrative Services | Master's | 0 | $215,277 | - |
| Computer Science | Master's | 115 | $175,922 | - |
| Human Computer Interaction | Master's | 43 | $175,307 | $55,000 |
| Law | First Professional | 138 | $153,307 | $133,605 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations | Master's | 188 | $148,411 | $72,394 |
| Medicine | First Professional | 93 | $143,530 | $191,478 |
| Computer Engineering | Bachelor's | 246 | $132,357 | $19,000 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | Master's | 19 | $128,924 | $85,000 |
| Computer Science | Bachelor's | 744 | $127,404 | $15,000 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | Bachelor's | 49 | $119,502 | $13,500 |
| Chemistry | Doctoral | 43 | $117,395 | - |
| Management Information Systems and Services | Bachelor's | 52 | $108,038 | $16,500 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | Bachelor's | 79 | $106,871 | $19,000 |
| Materials Engineering | Bachelor's | 37 | $106,547 | $7,500 |
| Accounting and Related Services | Master's | 0 | $104,422 | $32,396 |
Guides & Resources
Is College Worth It?
Analyze the financial return of a degree
Debt vs. Earnings by Major
Which fields of study pay off fastest
Colleges With the Best ROI
Schools where graduates earn the most vs. cost
How to Compare Colleges
A data-driven framework for picking schools
Understanding Earnings Data
How College Scorecard measures outcomes
Community College vs. 4-Year
Compare costs, outcomes, and career paths
Related Colleges
Other public institutions in California
California State University-Fullerton
Fullerton, CA
38,546 students Earn $62,951 90.5% admit
California State University-Long Beach
Long Beach, CA
35,924 students Earn $64,403 46.3% admit
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA
35,377 students Earn $64,909 36.2% admit
University of California-San Diego
La Jolla, CA
34,948 students Earn $84,943 26.7% admit
University of California-Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
33,475 students Earn $82,511 9.0% admit
University of California-Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
33,068 students Earn $92,446 11.0% admit
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the acceptance rate at University of California-Irvine? ▼
University of California-Irvine is a public institution in Irvine, California. The acceptance rate is 28.6%. Total enrollment is 30,197 students.
How much do University of California-Irvine graduates earn? ▼
Graduates of University of California-Irvine earn a median of $80,735 ten years after enrollment. Six years after enrollment, median earnings are $56,210.
How much does University of California-Irvine cost? ▼
The average net price at University of California-Irvine is $14,251. In-state tuition is $15,722 and out-of-state tuition is $49,922. Median student debt at graduation is $15,000.
What is the graduation rate at University of California-Irvine? ▼
University of California-Irvine has a 4-year completion rate of 86.4%. The first-year retention rate is 94.0%.
Is University of California-Irvine worth the student debt? ▼
The median student debt at University of California-Irvine is $15,000, while graduates earn a median of $80,735 ten years after enrollment. That debt represents about 19% of first-year post-graduation earnings. Among borrowers who completed their program, 82.7% are repaying their loans within 3 years. Estimated monthly loan payment is $159.
Sources & methodology
According to the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard's 2024-25 release, PlainCollege tracks 6,243 postsecondary institutions and 70,827 individual school-and-program earnings records nationwide.
Every figure on this page is read live from official U.S. federal datasets, as of the 2024-25 release. Read the full methodology for how the data is sourced, computed, and verified.
- College Scorecard, U.S. Department of Education - graduate earnings, cost & completion (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- IPEDS, National Center for Education Statistics - enrollment, admissions, Carnegie class & demographics (nces.ed.gov/ipeds).
- U.S. Treasury / IRS earnings linkage - median earnings 6 & 10 years after enrollment for federal-aid recipients (irs.gov).
- College Scorecard, Field of Study - program-level (credential) earnings & debt (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- Federal Student Aid (Title IV / NSLDS) - U.S. Department of Education - net price, student debt & aid-recipient repayment outcomes (studentaid.gov).
What this means for University of California-Irvine
- University of California-Irvine's graduates land in the 2nd percentile nationally for 10-year earnings among reporting colleges.
- The average net price after aid is $14,251 - compare it against schools with similar outcomes but a lower cost.Find similar schools that cost less
- See how this school compares to every other college in California.Browse California
This profile is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or admissions advice. Figures are historical averages and may not predict an individual student's outcome - confirm current details directly with the institution before making enrollment decisions.
Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Institution profiles are compiled directly from College Scorecard, IPEDS, and Treasury earnings-linkage data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2024-25.