UC Berkeley College of Computing, Data Science, and Society

What UC Berkeley College of Computing, Data Science, and Society does

UC Berkeley's College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS) is an academic college established in 2020 within the University of California, Berkeley public university system. The college delivers undergraduate and graduate education and conducts research in computing, data science, statistics, artificial intelligence, and computational health through several primary units: the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), the Department of Statistics, the Center for Computational Biology, and Computational Precision Health (a joint UC Berkeley–UCSF initiative). Its Data Science Undergraduate Studies program offers the top-ranked undergraduate data science major and minor in the U.S., and Data Science has become the largest major at UC Berkeley.

CDSS is supported by research infrastructure including the open-source DataHub platform and the newly opened Barbara and Gerson Bakar Gateway building (May 2026), which provides dedicated facilities for AI-driven discovery and interdisciplinary collaboration. Faculty include ACM Prize winners, Nobel laureates, and leading AI researchers such as Matei Zaharia and Ion Stoica. Active research spans AI for medical imaging (with UCSF), protein engineering, computational biology, climate, and other societal applications of computing.

As a public academic institution, CDSS does not sell commercial products or services. Revenue is generated through institutional funding from the University of California system, research grants from government agencies, private foundations, and industry partnerships, plus philanthropic donations through its giving program. The college's primary constituents are UC Berkeley students, faculty, and researchers, with roughly one in five of Berkeley's 30,000+ undergraduate students taking a data science class each year and 17 new faculty added in September 2025 alone.

Name

UC Berkeley College of Computing, Data Science, and Society

Legal name

UC Regents; University of California, Berkeley

Website

https://data.berkeley.edu

Company type

Public

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Short description

UC Berkeley's College of Computing, Data Science, and Society is a public academic college delivering top-ranked undergraduate and graduate programs in data science, computer science, and statistics, and conducting AI-driven research across multiple disciplines and research centers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education - Computing and Data Science

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Research Universities with Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) (EDAHAAAC)

Keywords

• Higher education
• Computer science programs
• Data science programs
• Academic research
• Computing research

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. University Funding and Grants: As part of UC Berkeley, CDSS receives institutional funding from the University of California system and generates revenue through research grants from government agencies, private foundations, and industry partnerships. The college also receives donations through its giving program.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

UC Berkeley's College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS) is a public academic college that delivers undergraduate and graduate education and conducts research in computing, data science, statistics, and computational health. It operates academic departments (EECS, Statistics), research centers (Center for Computational Biology, Computational Precision Health), and educational programs (Data Science major/minor, Berkeley Global Computing and Data Science visiting program), supported by faculty research and the new Barbara and Gerson Bakar Gateway facility.

Product overview

UC Berkeley's College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS) is an academic college offering educational programs and conducting research rather than a commercial product company. The college comprises multiple academic departments (EECS, Statistics), research centers (Center for Computational Biology, Computational Precision Health), and educational programs (Data Science Undergraduate Studies with major/minor). The Data Science Major is the top-ranked undergraduate program, and the Data Science Minor provides interdisciplinary data science training. The college recently opened the Barbara and Gerson Bakar Gateway, a dedicated facility for AI and computing research and collaboration. CDSS also offers visiting student programs through the Berkeley Global Computing and Data Science Program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Data Science Undergraduate Studies

Quantifiable outcome

• Top-ranked undergraduate data science program (#1 nationally)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 April 2026UC Berkeley and UCSF researchers are collaborating on using AI to revolutionize medical imaging. The Edge Medicine initiative, a joint effort between Berkeley and UCSF researchers, was awarded a Laude Moonshots seed grant. Researchers including Ahmed Alaa, Irene Chen, Fernando Perez, Maya Petersen, and Ida Sim are working on collaborative healthcare AI projects.
• Stanford UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2023UC Berkeley's College of Computing, Data Science, and Society is collaborating with Stanford University and California state agencies to study AI. This partnership represents a major cross-institutional effort to advance AI research and policy in California.
• California State AgenciescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCalifornia state agencies partnered with UC Berkeley and Stanford University to study AI, working with CDSS researchers to develop AI policy principles and explore regulatory approaches.
• CITRIS (Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCITRIS and CDSS jointly award the CITRIS-CDSS Innovation Fellowship and AIC Awards to support innovative research projects. The partnership fosters collaboration between technology researchers and data science scholars.
• MicrosoftminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMicrosoft's Jaron Lanier participated in UC Berkeley's AI speaker series. Microsoft collaborates on open-source research initiatives and AI policy discussions with Berkeley researchers.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Georgia Tech College of Computing: Georgia Tech's College of Computing is a top-ranked standalone computing college, comparable in structure to CDSS. Direct competitor for top CS/AI students and research talent.
• UT Austin Department of Computer Science (Texas Computing): UT Austin's CS department is a leading public-university CS program, often ranked alongside Berkeley. A direct peer in the public-flagship CS/AI landscape and a competitor for top students.
• Princeton School of Engineering and Applied Science: Princeton SEAS houses its CS department alongside engineering disciplines. Comparable to CDSS as a top-tier Ivy League school with strong interdisciplinary computing research and a focus on graduate-level AI.
• Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences: Harvard SEAS is a top-tier engineering and CS school with growing AI/computing emphasis. A direct competitor for faculty and graduate students at the intersection of computing and applied disciplines.
• Cornell Bowers College of Computing and Information Science: Cornell's standalone computing and information science college, restructured as the Bowers CIS. A direct structural peer offering CS, IS, and Statistics departments in an integrated college format.
• MIT Schwarzman College of Computing: MIT's dedicated college of computing (founded 2019) integrating computing with other disciplines. The closest structural analog to UC Berkeley CDSS, with a similar interdisciplinary computing + society focus and top-ranked AI research.
• Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science: CMU's SCS is one of the top-ranked CS departments globally and a leading AI research hub. Competes with CDSS for graduate students, faculty, and AI research funding.
• University of Washington Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering: UW's Allen School is one of the leading CS programs in the U.S., with strong AI research and industry ties to Amazon and Microsoft (similar to CDSS's Silicon Valley positioning).
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Grainger College of Engineering: UIUC's Grainger College houses the top-ranked CS department. A leading public-university peer to UC Berkeley, competing for CS rankings, faculty, and graduate students.
• Stanford University School of Engineering: Stanford's engineering school houses the #1-ranked CS program and is Berkeley's primary cross-Bay peer. CDSS already collaborates with Stanford on AI research and policy, highlighting direct competition for top faculty, students, and grants.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BerkeleyCDSS
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@BerkeleyCDSS
• Facebookfacebook.com/BerkeleyCDSS
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/computingdatasciencesociety
• Instagraminstagram.com/berkeleycdss

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UC Berkeley College of Computing, Data Science, and Society