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Cognitive Science at University of California-Berkeley

Berkeley, CA · Public · Bachelor's Degree
74 /100
DegreeWorth Score (Base Case)
75
Optimistic
74
Base Case
72
Pessimistic
Earnings $64,559/yr (35% vs median)
AI Risk Moderate (22% exposed)
Job Market Very Large (111,400 openings/yr)

How AI Changes the Outlook

Three scenarios based on how aggressively AI disrupts the career paths available to Cognitive Science graduates.

Optimistic
No Disruption		 Base Case
Gradual AI		 Pessimistic
Aggressive AI
10-Year Earnings $1,119K $794K $579K
Earnings Multiple (In-State) 18.8x 13.4x 9.7x
Earnings Multiple (Out-of-State) 6.1x 4.4x 3.2x
Viable Career Paths 6 of 6 6 of 6 6 of 6
DegreeWorth Score 75 74 72

10-Year Earnings Projection

*Year 1 uses actual reported earnings. Scenarios diverge as AI impact compounds over time.

4-Year Tuition (In-State)
$59,400
Out-of-state: $182,508
Median Debt at Graduation
$14,589
2.7 months of Year 1 earnings
Reported Earnings (5 Year)
$100,651
56% growth from Year 1

Career Paths

Where Cognitive Science graduates typically work. Raw data — no blending. The scenarios above model how these factors interact. This field has roughly 111,400 combined openings per year.

Career Path Wage Openings/yr Growth AI Risk
Natural sciences managers $161,180 8,500 +3.7% 50%
Postsecondary teachers, all other $78,490 13,500 +1.8% 0%
Community and social service specialists, all other $54,940 13,100 +4.6% 0%
Directors, religious activities and education $54,840 13,800 +2.1% 44%
Self-enrichment teachers $45,590 51,400 +3.7% 36%
Religious workers, all other $45,120 11,100 +0.6% 0%

Compare & Explore

Cognitive Science at Other Schools

Stanford University ($105,695) University of Pennsylvania ($84,314) Tufts University ($75,672) University of California-Los Angeles ($53,962) Rice University ($47,459) University of Michigan-Ann Arbor ($44,698) Johns Hopkins University ($42,602) University of California-Davis ($42,342)

Other Majors at University of California-Berkeley

Computer Science ($149,866) Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering ($137,295) Business Administration, Management and Operations ($90,008) Operations Research ($88,685) Mechanical Engineering ($88,497) Computer and Information Sciences, General ($88,030) Statistics ($83,227) Chemical Engineering ($81,553)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the DegreeWorth Score for Cognitive Science at University of California-Berkeley?
This program scores 74/100 in the Base Case scenario, factoring in earnings, AI disruption risk, job market size, and earnings multiple. The score ranges from 75 (optimistic) to 72 (pessimistic) depending on AI's impact.
How does AI affect Cognitive Science career prospects?
We model three scenarios: Optimistic (no disruption), Base Case (gradual AI adoption), and Pessimistic (aggressive AI displacement). In the base case, Cognitive Science graduates retain 6 of 6 viable career paths. 10-year earnings range from $578,991 (pessimistic) to $1,118,875 (optimistic).
How many job openings are there for Cognitive Science graduates?
The career paths mapped to Cognitive Science have roughly 111,400 combined job openings per year nationally, making this a very large job market.
Is Cognitive Science at University of California-Berkeley worth it?
In the Base Case, this degree earns 13.4x its in-state tuition over 10 years. Even in the Pessimistic scenario, the multiple is 9.7x. The spread between scenarios tells you how sensitive this degree is to AI disruption.
Data: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (earnings, debt), Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024-2034 (employment projections), OpenAI GPTs-are-GPTs research (AI task exposure), Felten et al. AIOE. Scenarios use a continuous weighting function combining AI exposure and BLS job growth projections. "Earnings Multiple" is total 10-year projected earnings divided by tuition — not a discounted financial ROI. Last updated 2025.