Is college worth it? For UC grads, the data says ‘Yes!’
June 10, 2025 •
Students with newly conferred degrees at UC Berkeley’s 2025 graduation. (Credit: Keegan Houser/UC Berkeley)
Amid a national debate about whether college is still worth it, the data about UC alums is unequivocal: Not only do large percentages of UC alums enter the workforce with no student debt, but their degrees often deliver an array of benefits both for themselves and their communities — including higher lifetime earnings and an increased likelihood of owning a home or starting a business, compared to peers without a degree.
For the roughly 40 percent of UC’s undergraduates in the Class of 2025 who come from low-income families, those hard-won degrees are even more of a game-changer: Within five years of graduating, a majority of UC’s low-income graduates earn more than their families. And within 10 years, they see their incomes double.
Read the whole story — and check out the data — at the UC Newsroom
Tags: financial aid, graduation, social mobility, undergraduate students
