University of California-Irvine
Public Research University in Irvine, CA. Six-year graduation rate 87%. Median 10-year earnings $80,735.
A decade after enrolling, the median University of California-Irvine student earns $80,735 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Completion is a strength: 87% of students finish within six years. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $15,000. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 6.8% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.19 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Mobility score 6.8 — top quartile among US colleges
- ✓ Graduation rate 87% — well above the national average
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 29% of applicants are offered a place. With 122,699 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. A 19% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of California-Irvine →Academics
87% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. First-year retention of 94% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The part-time picture is harder: 68% return, against 94% full-time. The student-faculty ratio is 19:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major. As a public four-year university, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 29,494 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $15,889 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $8,123 while those at $110k+ pay $30,546. About 62% get grants averaging $21,874, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Only 20% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 6,777 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $8,123 |
| $30–48k | $9,313 |
| $48–75k | $11,642 |
| $75–110k | $15,164 |
| $110k+ | $30,546 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 5,990 of these 29,494 students, totalling $31,922,398 — an average of $5,329 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Orange County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)