UC Berkeley Holidays 2026-2027: Academic Breaks & Staff Holidays

UC Berkeley holidays 2026-2027 schedule has breaks and academic calendar dates for 2026-2027 — Fall, Spring, Summer, staff holidays, and RRR week, all in one place.

UC Berkeley’s 2026-2027 academic year includes 14 Academic and Administrative Holidays, one Non-Instructional Day, and four instructional breaks across three terms.

The academic year begins Wednesday, August 19, 2026, and runs through the end of Summer Sessions on Friday, August 13, 2027, covering Fall 2026, Spring 2027, and Summer 2027.

Two of the 14 holiday dates are Thursday, December 24, 2026, through Friday, December 25, 2026, and Thursday, December 31, 2026, through Friday, January 1, 2027.

UC Berkeley Calendar 2026-2027 at a Glance

The table below lists the milestones for the UC Berkeley 2026-2027 academic year in chronological order.

UC Berkeley Academic Calendar 2026-2027

The UC Berkeley Academic Calendar 2026-2027 is published by the Office of the Registrar and divides the year into Fall 2026, Spring 2027, and Summer 2027.

Each term lists instructional dates separately from Academic and Administrative Holidays, since the two categories affect different populations: instructional dates apply to students and faculty, while Administrative Holidays apply to staff as well.

Fall 2026 Semester

Spring 2027 Semester

Summer 2027 Sessions

UC Berkeley runs five overlapping summer sessions (A through F, excluding E’s own designation gap) rather than a single summer term. Session length ranges from three to ten weeks, and two Administrative Holidays fall during the summer sessions calendar.

Full List of UC Berkeley Holidays 2026-2027

UC Berkeley observes 14 Academic and Administrative Holiday days during the 2026-2027 academic year, plus one Non-Instructional Day that is distinct from a holiday.

A Non-Instructional Day cancels classes but is not a paid day off for staff — Wednesday, November 25, 2026, is the only date in the 2026-2027 calendar carrying this designation, and staff are expected to report to work as scheduled.

Systemwide UC Holiday Rules Applied to the 2026-2027 Calendar

The University of California defines most staff holidays by a recurring rule (a specific weekday or date pattern) rather than a fixed calendar date, so the actual date shifts every year.

The table below maps each systemwide rule to its corresponding UC Berkeley date for 2026-2027.

Two dates in this table do not match their nominal fixed date, and both are explained by the same policy rule.

Why Juneteenth and Independence Day Shift in the 2026-2027 Calendar

Juneteenth falls on June 19, and Independence Day falls on July 4, every year regardless of weekday. In 2027, June 19 lands on a Saturday and July 4 lands on a Sunday.

Under UC’s weekend-holiday policy, a holiday falling on Saturday is observed the preceding Friday, and a holiday falling on Sunday is observed the following Monday.

That rule produces the Friday, June 18, 2027, and Monday, July 5, 2027, dates shown on the official Berkeley calendar — neither is a data error, and neither is an alternate holiday.

UC Berkeley Staff Holidays 2026-2027

UC Berkeley staff holidays for 2026-2027 follow University of California systemwide policy and apply to Berkeley employees the same way they apply across all UC campuses.

Staff holiday pay eligibility, unlike the student academic calendar, depends on employment classification and pay status rather than enrollment.

Holiday Pay Eligibility for Full-Time and Part-Time Staff

Eligibility differs by employment classification, not by campus location. The table below summarizes the University of California’s core conditions; individual bargaining unit contracts may modify these terms and take precedence over the general policy.

Employees who work on an alternate full-time schedule receive the same number of holidays and the same amount of paid holiday time as employees on a standard schedule.

An employee may take a special or religious holiday outside this list if the department can accommodate the absence; the time is charged to vacation, compensatory time, or leave without pay.

What Happens When a UC Berkeley Holiday Falls on a Weekend

A holiday that falls on a Saturday is observed the preceding Friday, and a holiday that falls on a Sunday is observed the following Monday, unless the University President designates an alternate day.

This rule accounts for the Friday, June 18, 2027, Juneteenth observance and the Monday, July 5, 2027, Independence Day observance in the 2026-2027 calendar.

UC Berkeley Student Breaks 2026-2027

Student breaks differ from staff holidays in that they suspend instruction without necessarily closing campus operations. UC Berkeley’s 2026-2027 academic calendar includes four distinct break periods for students: Thanksgiving Break, Winter Break, Spring Recess, and Summer Break.

UC Berkeley Thanksgiving Break 2026

UC Berkeley’s Thanksgiving break for 2026 runs three days, from Wednesday, November 25, 2026, through Friday, November 27, 2026. Wednesday, November 25 is a Non-Instructional Day (no staff holiday pay), while Thursday, November 26 and Friday, November 27 are Academic and Administrative Holidays.

This is not a full week off — instruction resumes the following Monday, and only the Thursday and Friday are paid holidays for staff.

UC Berkeley Winter Break 2026-2027

Winter break begins after the fall semester ends on Friday, December 18, 2026, and instruction resumes with the spring semester on Tuesday, January 12, 2027. Within that window, Thursday, December 24, 2026, through Friday, January 1, 2027, is marked as Academic and Administrative Holiday time, though the December 24–25 and December 31–January 1 dates remain pending approval as of the current calendar publication.

How Long Is UC Berkeley’s Winter Break 2026-2027?

UC Berkeley’s winter break spans approximately four weeks, from the end of fall finals on Friday, December 18, 2026, to the start of spring semester on Tuesday, January 12, 2027. Only a subset of those days are paid staff holidays; the remainder are simply outside the instructional calendar.

UC Berkeley Spring Break (Spring Recess) 2027

UC Berkeley’s Spring Recess runs four days, from Monday, March 22, 2027, through Thursday, March 25, 2027. The Cesar Chavez Day holiday on Friday, March 26, 2027, immediately follows Spring Recess, extending the break to a five-day period for students and staff alike before instruction resumes the following Monday.

Summer Break 2027

The gap between the end of the spring semester on Friday, May 14, 2027, and the start of the first summer session on Monday, May 24, 2027, spans ten days. Unlike winter and spring breaks, summer break is not a University-wide closure — Summer Session A begins less than two weeks after spring commencement.

Reading, Review, and Recitation (RRR) Week 2026-2027

RRR Week is a structured study period between the end of formal classes and the start of final examinations. RRR Week is not a vacation period — it exists specifically so students can review course material and prepare for exams without new coursework being assigned, a distinction that separates it from a true break like Spring Recess or Winter Break.

Fall 2026 RRR Week

Fall 2026 RRR Week runs Monday, December 7, 2026, through Friday, December 11, 2026, immediately after formal classes end on Friday, December 4, 2026, and immediately before final examinations begin Monday, December 14, 2026.

Spring 2027 RRR Week

Spring 2027 RRR Week runs Monday, May 3, 2027, through Friday, May 7, 2027, following formal classes ending Friday, April 30, 2027, and preceding final examinations beginning Monday, May 10, 2027.

Winter Curtailment and Pending-Approval Holidays 2026-2027

Winter curtailment refers to reduced-staffing days near the winter holidays that are separate from officially designated Academic and Administrative Holidays.

As of the current 2026-2027 academic calendar, no independent curtailment schedule has been published beyond the two pending-approval holiday windows: Thursday, December 24, 2026, through Friday, December 25, 2026, and Thursday, December 31, 2026, through Friday, January 1, 2027. Both carry a “++” designation on the official Registrar calendar, meaning they require final approval before being confirmed as paid holidays rather than curtailment days.

UC Berkeley Holidays vs. Related Calendars

Several organizations that share “Berkeley” in their name or that operate near the UC Berkeley campus publish independent holiday calendars. Confusing these with the UC Berkeley academic calendar is a common search error.

UC Berkeley vs. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are administratively linked but maintain separate holiday calendars. A UC Berkeley Academic and Administrative Holiday does not automatically apply to LBL staff, and LBL’s calendar should be checked independently for lab-specific closures.

UC Berkeley vs. UC Office of the President

UCOP sets the systemwide holiday rules (the “first Monday in September,” “third Monday in January” style definitions) that every UC campus, including Berkeley, applies to its own calendar. UCOP’s own office calendar can differ from the Berkeley campus calendar in observance timing for staff based at the Oakland or other UCOP office locations.

UC Berkeley vs. City of Berkeley and Berkeley Unified School District

The City of Berkeley and Berkeley Unified School District both observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day; UC Berkeley does not designate this as an Academic and Administrative Holiday, and instruction continues as scheduled. This is the source of most “does UC Berkeley have Columbus Day off” search confusion — the city and the university are separate entities with independent holiday policies.

UC Berkeley vs. Other UC Campus Academic Calendars

Each UC campus sets its own academic calendar independently, even though all campuses follow the same UCOP-defined staff holiday rules. UC San Diego, for example, publishes a separate academic calendar with its own semester and break dates for the same 2026-2027 academic year; a holiday date confirmed for UC Berkeley should not be assumed to apply to another UC campus without checking that campus’s own calendar.

Frequently Asked Questions About UC Berkeley Holidays 2026-2027