Does UCLA pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, UCLA employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.7 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at UCLA. This rating has decreased by 1% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at UCLA?

77% of UCLA employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated UCLA 4.0 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.9 for culture and values and 3.8 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at UCLA?

Research Assistant (202) , Teaching Assistant (171) , Graduate Student Researcher (166) , Administrative Assistant (121) , Postdoctoral Fellow (113) , Graduate Student (104) , Graduate Research Assistant (88) , Graduate Teaching Assistant (86) , PhD Student (67) , Postdoctoral Scholar (67) , Postdoctoral Researcher (65) , Student Worker (63) , Student Assistant (58) , Registered Nurse (57) , Researcher (55)

What are the pros of working at UCLA according to real employee reviews?

"Benefits are great and class material is interesting." ((in 522 reviews)); "The people I worked with were great and that was one of the best reasons I enjoyed my work experience at ucla." ((in 287 reviews)); "The campus is beautiful and it is a dream place to work if you like research in social sciences." ((in 229 reviews)); "Flexible hours and you get to take on as many people as you want to tutor" ((in 203 reviews)); "I love teaching and work environment is good." ((in 124 reviews))

What are the cons of working at UCLA according to real employee reviews?

"Low pay and if you don’t publish you can really hurt your chances of getting a job after." ((in 331 reviews)); "Salary and raises very low for level of responsibilities and expectation (25% below fair market value)" ((in 238 reviews)); "Management was poor and slow to get back to you." ((in 115 reviews)); "parking is expensive and not always convenient to where you work." ((in 103 reviews)); "Low compensation and lack of growth" ((in 27 reviews))

What are employees saying about UCLA layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about UCLA layoffs and their outlook for job security at UCLA in 2026.

UCLA reviews

4.1

77% would recommend to a friend

(5,753 total reviews)

Gene D. Block

70% approve of CEO

58% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (5,753 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

UCLA has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 5,753 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The UCLA employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Educación industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

6K reviews

4.0

Jul 22, 2014

Graduate Research Assistant

Graduate research assistant

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Flexible schedules, vibrant working atmosphere. The health benefits are pretty good and dental is included.

Cons

The pay is rather low. For most RAs they work longer than the hours they get paid.

3.0

Jul 21, 2014

Mixed Bag

Graduate student researcher

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

I have worked as a graduate student researcher for a little over 4 years, and there are a lot of things to like about UCLA. The campus is great, there are a lot of smart people to learn from if you look, and the competitive environment of Neuroscience really pushes you to be productive.

Cons

I don't know exactly where the kink is, but I have been double or triple paid several times, which seems nice but then the school sent all the notices to my first year address, even though I had changed my address through the main UCLA student web portal. Turns out the grant people keep their own addresses and don't update; they were attempting to go to collections against me when my adviser found out and obviously I got things settled. It then happened several more times (although obviously contacted them immediately later). On other occasions I have gone without pay for 2-3 months at a time, just to have them pay out all that money at once. Its EXTREMELY annoying as a grad student who doesn't make that much. I have other less direct evidence of the ridiculous inefficiency of UCLA's bureaucracy but its more hearsay. Just be ready for it.

4.0

Jul 20, 2014

T/A

Teaching assistant

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Environment, people, learning experience, professors are nice to deal with.

Cons

Low pay, no benefits, work isn't very challenging at all.

Viewing 5278 - 5280 of 5,753 Reviews

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Jobs at UCLA

UCLA DEPARTMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES OPEN POSITIONS: PART-TIME LECTURERS (NON-SENATE) 2026-2027

UCLA

UCLA reviews

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Graduate Research Assistant

Mixed Bag

T/A

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