UC Riverside vs Harvard

Envision yourself pursuing higher education at either the University of California-Riverside (UCR) or Harvard University, two esteemed institutions with distinct characteristics. UCR, nestled in the vibrant city of Riverside, California, offers a welcoming environment with a diverse student body and a strong emphasis on undergraduate research. In contrast, Harvard, situated in the historic town of Cambridge, Massachusetts, boasts a world-renowned reputation for academic excellence, attracting students from across the globe. While both universities provide exceptional educational opportunities, they differ in acceptance rates, popular majors, student demographics, and graduation rates. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to discover which university aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Harvard University	University of California-Riverside
Overview
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Riverside, California
Campus setting	City: Midsize	City: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Quarter
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	96.0%	88.0%
Common app member	Yes	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	4.0%	65.4%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $75 Graduate: $105	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $120
SAT range	1480 - 1580	N/A
ACT range	33 - 36	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	54.0%
Students submitting ACT score	31.0%
Total number of applicants	57,786	52,672
Total number of admissions given out	2,318	34,437
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,951	5,203
Yield rate	84.2%	15.1%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Required
Recommendation letters	Required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$78,028	In state: $32,312 Out of state: $62,066
Average net price	$13,910	$13,502
Tuition	$51,143	In state: $11,442 Out of state: $41,196
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $11,705 Meal plan: $7,236	$16,600
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	56.0% Average amount $59,840	78.0% Average amount $18,676
Students receiving federal student loan	3.0% Average amount $5,180	28.0% Average amount $4,703
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $8,080	2.0% Average amount $8,151

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,579 Men 49.0% Women 51.0%	22,868 Men 47.0% Women 53.0%
Graduate students	21,766 Men 46.3% Women 53.7%	3,979 Men 53.8% Women 46.2%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	N/A	0.8%
International students	23.9%	8.1%
Campus local/setting	City: Midsize	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	12,874	8,597
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California Texas Illinois New Jersey	California Nevada Florida Arizona New Mexico

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Health Professions Social Sciences Education Legal Profession	Business Engineering Computer and Information Science Biological and Biomedical Sciences Education
Students to faculty ratio	7:1	24:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	96.7%	76.5%
Dropout rate	2.0%	6.2%
Transferred out	N/A	16.4%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Statistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $78,193 Year 2: $128,716 Year 3: $240,408 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $184,307 Year 2: $165,340 Year 3: $199,043 Business Administration, Management and Operations (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $171,333 Year 2: $171,907 Year 3: $187,553 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $140,072 Year 2: $128,737 Year 3: $163,896 Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: $151,371 Year 2: $174,023 Year 3: $163,512 Public Health (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $123,508 Year 2: $117,916 Year 3: $129,281 Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $106,421 Year 3: $121,832 Applied Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $102,707 Year 2: $90,856 Year 3: $121,771 Education, General (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $97,905 Year 2: $98,670 Year 3: $107,389 Dentistry (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $68,745 Year 2: $71,486 Year 3: $106,375	Psychology, General (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $85,748 Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $67,571 Year 2: $69,617 Year 3: $84,080 Education, General (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $79,838 Year 3: $81,740 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $66,399 Year 2: $66,076 Year 3: $80,825 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $54,188 Year 2: $59,912 Year 3: $68,240 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $59,114 Year 2: $60,320 Year 3: $67,946 Chemical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $44,484 Year 2: $49,464 Year 3: $66,365 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $56,049 Year 2: $58,568 Year 3: $64,438 Biomedical/Medical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,664 Year 2: $49,214 Year 3: $63,844 Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $57,269 Year 2: $42,682 Year 3: $59,823

Compare Similar Colleges

The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.

Harvard

California Institute of Technology