As a system, the University enrolls proportionately more low-income independent and dependent students than comparable public or private universities.

The higher proportion of high-income students at UC compared to other selective public institutions may, in part, reflect state-to-state differences in family incomes.

Students at very selective private universities are more likely than students at UC to come from upper- and middle-income brackets, consistent with those institutions' higher costs.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2007-08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS); UC Corporate Student System.

For UC figures, students were assigned to parent income categories based on the income they reported on either the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the UC Application for Undergraduate Admission, or the income was imputed based on the parents' demographic profile. Figures for comparison institutions were based on corresponding income data from NPSAS. The two groups of comparison institutions were randomly selected from those categorized as "Research Universities - very high research activity" according to the 2000 basic Carnegie classification. Comparison institutions were further limited to those considered "Very Selective" based on their admissions requirements, freshman admit rate, and the SAT/ACT scores of their admitted students.

Incomes are expressed in constant 2008 dollars. Inflationary adjustments relied on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage-earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

You may view or download a table of the raw data used to generate these charts in CSV files, which can be opened in spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice.

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