California Public Colleges Ranked by Highest ACT Score

Below is a list of the 26 public colleges in California with the highest ACT Score for incoming freshmen. University of California Berkeley leads the list with an average ACT Score of 32. Alternatively, check out the SAT version of these rankings.

The ACT is a standardized test used by colleges to evaluate applicants. It is not a guarantee of success in college, but it is a strong indicator of academic potential.

List of California Public Colleges Ranked by Highest ACT Score
College	Average ACT Score
University of California Berkeley Berkeley, California	32
University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles, California	32
University of California San Diego La Jolla, California	31
University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California	31
California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, California	29
University of California Davis Davis, California	29
University of California Irvine Irvine, California	29
University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California	29
University of California Riverside Riverside, California	26
San Diego State University San Diego, California	25
California State Polytechnic University Pomona Pomona, California	23
California State University Long Beach Long Beach, California	23
San Jose State University San Jose, California	22
California State University Chico Chico, California	21
California State Polytechnic University Humboldt Arcata, California	21
University of California Merced Merced, California	21
California State University Fullerton Fullerton, California	20
California State University Sacramento Sacramento, California	20

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This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: March 15, 2026

Data source: IPEDS 2025 survey for academic year 2024/2025 - National Center for Education Statistics.