California Controller Publishes 2025 Higher Education Payroll Data

California State Controller Malia M. Cohen has released self-reported 2025 payroll data from the University of California (UC) and California Community College (CCC) districts. The published data covers 451,244 positions, with over $34 billion in salaries and more than $6 billion in retirement and health care contributions, totaling over $40.1 billion in compensation.

The UC system, including its 10 campuses and the Office of the President, submitted comprehensive reports covering 357,167 positions and over $29.2 billion in salaries, with approximately $4.5 billion in retirement and health care contributions. UC institutions have maintained a 100 percent reporting rate since voluntarily joining the program in 2013.

Out of the state's 73 CCC districts, 36 submitted complete reports. These data encompass 94,077 positions, over $4.8 billion in salaries, and more than $1.5 billion in contributions. Controller Cohen emphasized the public's right to know how taxpayer funds support higher education and encouraged full participation from all community college districts.

Among UC campuses, UCLA reported the highest number of positions with 74,519, followed by UC San Diego with 54,598. For CCC districts with published data, Los Angeles Community College District had the most positions at 11,182. The data also indicated that many of the highest-paid employees work in medicine or athletics.

California law mandates that cities, counties, and special districts report compensation data annually to the State Controller's Office (SCO). The SCO also publishes payroll data for state departments and the California State University system. The "Government Compensation in California" website allows the public to search for salary and benefit information by employer and job title.