UC Berkeley Business Program Change (Two-Year to Four-Year)

According to this press release (July 19, 2022), the Haas undergraduate business program, currently a two-year program, will expand to become a four-year program starting with the Fall 2024 incoming cohort.

This change will most severely impact current Berkeley students who plan to apply to Haas in November 2023 or later, as well as current high school seniors who are applying in November 2022 (and subsequently start at Berkeley in Fall 2023), according to the new program FAQ, as the number of available seats at Haas for such students will be significantly reduced.

Students who are starting at Berkeley as freshmen this fall (Fall 2022) are encouraged to apply to Haas this November (November 2022) and completion of minimum eligibility requirements will be extended to Summer 2023 for these students.

The change will not affect transfer applicants from California community colleges, as the number of seats available for these students and the admissions process/policy will remain the same as before (although any increase in the number of applicants will still increase the competition and lower the admit rate).

In addition to the Business Administration program, Haas also offers Management, Entrepreneurship, & Technology (four-year program), Global Management Program (four-year program), and Robinson Life Sciences, Business, and Entrepreneurship Program (four-year program). All of the Haas programs are incredibly competitive, with admit rates likely around or below 5% based on previous known admission stats (no current admission stats available).

For freshman and transfer applicants who are interested in applying to business-related majors at the UCs, please note that, in my experience, many UCs are not friendly toward students who talk about wanting to pursue business at the undergraduate level (students often don’t get admitted). There are several factors that may contribute to this: 1) most UCs don’t have business programs (talking about wanting to pursue business as a major just highlights your ignorance; a lot of UCs have business-adjacent programs, but they are not the same as business programs, see my next point); 2) assuming economics is interchangeable with business is just fundamentally wrong (a lot of students make this mistake) and that seems to be a sticking point with many UCs (economics, or even business economics, is NOTHING like business); and 3) the UCs are very much about social justice and bettering the world, and most students are incapable of articulating how studying business (or business-adjacent programs) will enable them to become socially responsible global citizens who can make positive contributions to society. Remember, your choice of major is an integral part of your application strategy, be cognizant of how you are presenting yourself to the UCs.

Know someone who can benefit from this information? Share the page with family and friends using a button below!

Help support this blog by making a contribution by credit card (processed through Stripe) or through Zelle (to ) today! Any amount is greatly appreciated!