Metro area directory
Colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area Area
CampusPin lists 48 colleges and universities across the San Francisco Bay Area metro, 37 universities and 11 community colleges, with 15 public and 33 private institutions across 10 cities.
The San Francisco Bay Area runs from San Francisco and Oakland through Berkeley and down the peninsula to San Jose and Silicon Valley. It is home to flagship public campuses, leading private research universities, and community colleges tied closely to the regional technology economy.
San Francisco Bay Area colleges by the numbers
- Public / private
- 15 public · 33 private
- 4-year / 2-year
- 37 universities · 11 community colleges
- Cities covered
- 10
- Largest by enrollment
- University of California, Berkeley
- Lowest published tuition
- Berkeley City College ($1,148)
- Published tuition range
- $1,148–$62,484
Among the 48 colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area area, University of California, Berkeley is the largest by enrollment; Berkeley City College has the lowest published in-state tuition at $1,148; Minerva University is the most selective at a 4% acceptance rate. Published figures are sticker price, not net price, compare net price and outcomes on each profile.
Local labor market
Across all occupations in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA area, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports an annual median wage of $73,960 (2,405,740 jobs), in its May 2024 OEWS estimate. This is a whole-economy figure for the metro, not a starting salary or a graduate or field-specific wage, but it is a useful gauge of local pay levels and cost of living when weighing colleges here.
Local pay for common roles
Annual median wage in this metro for occupations tied to popular majors (BLS OEWS, May 2024).
- Registered Nurses$188,020
- Software Developers$174,910
- General and Operations Managers$152,090
- Mechanical Engineers$145,640
- Accountants and Auditors$105,750
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education$98,890
Local pay reflects the metro labor market, not what any one college's graduates earn. For how a school's cost lines up with student outcomes, see college cost vs. graduation and earnings.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024, all occupations (SOC 00-0000), CBSA 41860.
Colleges by city in the San Francisco Bay Area area
San Francisco (13)
- Academy of Art UniversityUniv · Private
- California College of the ArtsUniv · Private
- California Institute of Integral StudiesUniv · Private
- City College of San FranciscoCC · Public
- Golden Gate UniversityUniv · Private
- Minerva UniversityUniv · Private
- Presidio Graduate SchoolUniv · Private
- San Francisco Conservatory of MusicUniv · Private
- San Francisco Film SchoolCC · Private
- San Francisco State UniversityUniv · Public
- University of California College of the Law-San FranciscoUniv · Public
- University of California-San FranciscoUniv · Public
- University of San FranciscoUniv · Private
Berkeley (11)
- Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College-BerkeleyUniv · Private
- Berkeley City CollegeCC · Public
- Berkeley School of TheologyUniv · Private
- California Jazz ConservatoryUniv · Private
- Church Divinity School of the PacificUniv · Private
- Dominican School of Philosophy & TheologyUniv · Private
- Graduate Theological UnionUniv · Private
- Institute of Buddhist StudiesUniv · Private
- Pacific School of ReligionUniv · Private
- The Wright InstituteUniv · Private
- University of California, BerkeleyUniv · Public
Oakland (6)
San Jose (6)
Hayward (3)
Fremont (3)
Stanford (1)
Compare and search across the San Francisco Bay Area area
Filter every California college by tuition, size, acceptance rate, and setting, then pin and compare your shortlist side by side, no account required.
Other major U.S. metro areas
Data sources & methodology
College listings for the San Francisco Bay Area metro are aggregated live from each institution's record, compiled from federal datasets and the institutions' own published information.
Sources used across this page
Not every source informs every figure. Each data point draws on the source appropriate to it see the relevant section and the data dictionary for field-level provenance.
IPEDS / NCES College Navigator
Federal enrollment, admissions, tuition, retention, and program data. Released annually with a 1–2 year lag.
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard
Net price by income band, post-graduation earnings, and federal aid context.
Institutional websites
Each school's official admissions, registrar, and financial-aid pages are the authoritative source for current details.
Where a value is unavailable it is shown as unavailable, never as 0, free, or a negative judgment. Always confirm final details with the institution before applying.
Suggested citation
CampusPin. Colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area Area. Retrieved from https://campuspin.com/colleges-in-metro/san-francisco-bay-area