Colleges in Northern California: A Complete List

California still reigns as the most populous state, even after an exit of some 600,000 residents in July 2022. Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, comprises nearly 20 counties and houses some of the best colleges in the nation. Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis all have campuses in NorCal. In fact, roughly 28 colleges and universities call Northern California home.

Considering colleges in Northern California? See what some of the best colleges in California have to offer, what you’ll pay, and the in-demand jobs that await graduates.

Here we feature three of the most popular colleges in Northern California. These institutions have the most selective admissions policies in the state. Find out what makes these colleges the most in-demand — and exclusive —in NorCal.

We’ve created a complete list of all four-year nonprofit universities in Northern California. You can use the table below to compare data on student population, average net cost, acceptance rate, and number of applicants.

The following school data comes from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). All data is from 2022. Schools with fewer than 500 undergraduates were not included in this list.

Note that we have defined Northern California as the region comprising the San Francisco Bay Area, the Greater Sacramento area, Redding, and Fresno. It also includes most of the Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley.

Many of the highest-paying jobs in California reward bachelor’s degree holders with six-figure salaries. You can find lucrative careers in a variety of different fields in Northern California, including healthcare, sales, marketing, information technology, and management.

With a bachelor’s degree, you can become an advertising and promotions manager in the San Francisco area and make an annual mean salary of $210,000 or a registered nurse in the Sacramento area and earn a mean annual wage of $145,230.

Note that mean annual salaries in the table below are based on either the San Francisco or Sacramento metropolitan area.

How much does college cost? According to NCES, students in Northern California pay an annual average of $13,875 for tuition and fees at public four-year colleges, compared to $29,690 for a private education at a four-year institution. These rates do not factor in other expenses you need to cover, such as housing, transportation, food, and supplies.

Yes. College in California costs more than the national average, and it’s particularly more expensive in Northern California. Nationally, students paid $9,375 for tuition and required fees at public four-year schools in 2020-2021, and $32,825 at private four-year schools, according to the NCES. At public four-year schools in Northern California, students paid $13,875 for tuition and fees. Statewide tuition and fees at public four-year colleges were $8,401.

Northern California has 28 private and public four-year colleges for you to pick from. UC Berkeley, with 45,307 students, has the largest academic population in the region, followed by UC Davis, with 39,679 students, and then San Jose State University, which educates about 35,751 students.

Minerva University, a small college with 660 students, has an acceptance rate of 1%, the lowest in Northern California. Simpson University, with 874 students, has the least selective admissions policy, admitting 100% of applicants. Among the larger colleges, Stanford has the lowest acceptance rate, admitting only 4% of candidates. And Berkeley, a large public university, admits 11% of prospective students.