by our College Data Analytics TeamUniversity of California-Riverside is a public institution in Riverside, California enrolling 22,593 undergraduates. It accepts 76% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 76%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #251 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 5%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
University of California-Riverside ranks #251 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 5%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
University of California-Riverside was awarded 154 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked UC Riverside as #251 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, UC Riverside holds the #48 spot on the Best Colleges in California ranking.
See all of the rankings for University of California-Riverside.
University of California-Riverside has an acceptance rate of 76%, which makes it somewhat selective. Make sure it’s not the only school you apply to, even if it’s your school of choice. Whether you get in or not will largely depend on how you compare to other applicants.
Learn more about University of California-Riverside admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at University of California-Riverside is 22 to 1, which is high when compared to the national average of 15 to 1. This may indicate that some of your classes will be larger in size than they would be at other schools. However, upper level classes will probably be smaller.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at University of California-Riverside is 89%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 88% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like University of California-Riverside enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at UC Riverside for first-time, full-time students is 76%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at University of California-Riverside.
During the most recent academic year, there were 22,593 undergraduates at UC Riverside.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at University of California-Riverside.
The typical net cost at UC Riverside is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $8,852 | $9,840 | $13,111 | $16,571 | $30,393 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of UC Riverside, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At UC Riverside, approximately 31% of students took out student loans averaging $5,429 a year. That adds up to $21,716 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 4.6%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for University of California-Riverside.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from University of California-Riverside with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $67,699 in their early years. This is good news for future University of California-Riverside graduates since it is 38% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at University of California-Riverside make the most money.
University of California-Riverside is an public institution found in Riverside, California. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of University of California-Riverside.
Contact information for University of California-Riverside can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 900 University Ave, Riverside, CA 92521 |
| Phone: | 9518271012 |
| Website: | WWW.UCR.EDU |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/UCRiverside |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/UCRiverside |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 21 majors graduated from University of California-Riverside. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 7,097 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 1,014 | $39,544 |
| General Biology | 688 | $18,850 |
| Child Development & Psychology | 577 | $23,518 |
| Computer Science | 477 | $56,647 |
| Economics | 386 | $35,836 |
| Political Science & Government | 244 | $28,458 |
| Sociology | 241 | $26,056 |
| Education Philosophy | 240 | NA |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 200 | $21,281 |
9,443 students took at least one online class at University of California-Riverside.
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
Learn more about online learning at University of California-Riverside.
Curious how schools stack up against UC Riverside? Compare them side by side using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
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