Fees and Financial Support
Fees
The University of California is a public institution. Graduate registration fees for California Resident students and Non-Residents can be located on the Registrar's website. U.S. citizens and permanent residents can establish California residency after a year of living continuously in California. Additionally, to estimate the cost of a year of graduate school at Berkeley and to acquaint you with the resources and options available to help you finance your education, you can refer to the Graduate Division's list of cost and fees, or if you are an international student, the International Office's list of costs and fees.
Financial Support
Financial support for most graduate students may be found in the form of fellowships, loans, graduate student instructorships, research assistantships, readerships, and even subsidized housing and childcare. Many students are also able to find employment during the summer months in local industry. Some programs are merit-based and administered through the Graduate Division Fellowship Office. Others are need-based and administered through the Financial Aid Office.
Fellowships are an excellent form of support. We encourage you to check for current information on available fellowships with our Graduate Division. We strongly encourage all our applicants to apply for financial assistance from sources outside the university as well. Government fellowships, such as the National Science Foundation Fellowship (NSF) and the National Defense Science and Engineering (NDSEG) are excellent examples of outside fellowships. International students should also review the information at the Berkeley International Office.
The 5th Year M.S. program is self-supported.
Students with questions regarding Financial Support and the MEng Program should refer to the Fung Institute website.
Residency
If you are not a resident of California, you will need to know the current requirements on establishing legal residency. While all out-of-state students are required to have three years of financial independence in California before being eligible to reclassify for lower registration fees. In most cases graduate students can qualify for legal residency by their second year of graduate school, thereby significantly reducing their fees.
International students and students who are not US citizens or permanent residents cannot establish California residency and should expect to pay nonresident tuition each semester of their graduate study. Doctoral candidates will be eligible for a NRT waiver for up to three (3) years after Advancement to Candidacy.
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