University of California: Santa Cruz is a public institution in Santa Cruz, CA with an acceptance rate of 66% and 17,940 students. The average net price after financial aid is $17,975 per year.
About University of California: Santa Cruz
A public 4-year urban university in Santa Cruz, CA.
University of California: Santa Cruz is a college in Santa Cruz, CA. It enrolls roughly 17,940 students. The most recent acceptance rate is 66%.
Your chances at this school
What admitted students look like here. Sign in to see how your own profile compares.
Selective — strong academics get you in the conversation.
What strengthens an application here
- A GPA near 3.86 or higherThis is the average across admitted students.
- Depth in one or two activitiesSustained commitment, a leadership role, or a result in a few activities says more than a long list of memberships.
Your chances estimate is based on your academic profile and activities — it is a guide, not a guarantee of admission. Decisions weigh essays, recommendations, and fit factors that aren't in the data.
Admissions
What it actually takes to get into University of California: Santa Cruz. Test scores, GPA, application requirements, and deadlines.
Admitted student profile
Range shown is the middle 50%.
This school doesn't require test scores, so these ranges reflect only students who chose to submit — applicants who submit tend to have higher scores. The real admitted range likely runs lower. Don't rule yourself out on scores alone.
Application requirements
- Test-optional
Deadlines (2026-27)
- Regular Decision
- Nov 30, 2026
Source: the college's own admissions site, 2026-27 cycle — this college is not on the Common App (verified Sep 2026). Always confirm on the college's own site.
Cost & financial aid
Published costs can be misleading. Here's what families actually pay at University of California: Santa Cruz after grants and scholarships.
Net price by family income
Average amount paid out of pocket — tuition, fees, and room & board minus all grant aid.
Net price represents the average cost after grants and scholarships for students receiving federal financial aid.
Academics & majors
Where students at University of California: Santa Cruz concentrate, and how the classroom experience scales.
Student body
Who attends University of California: Santa Cruz. Enrollment, diversity, and where students come from.
Race & ethnicity
- White32%
- Asian24%
- Hispanic30%
- Black2%
- Two or more races9%
- International3%
Gender
- Female53%
- Male47%
Outcomes after graduation
What University of California: Santa Cruz graduates do next — and what they earn.
Is it worth it?
Earnings, debt, and price side by side — context for the cost-vs-payoff question, not a ranking.
- Median earnings
- $68.4k
- Typical debt
- $14.3k
- Avg. net price
- $18.0k/yr
- These numbers reflect who enrolls, not the value the school adds. A college's earnings can look high simply because it admits wealthier, higher-scoring students — not because of what happens there.
- Earnings vary far more by major and career path than by school. A school-wide median blends engineers and artists into one number that may match no real student.
- Federal earnings and debt figures cover only students who received federal aid, so they leave out full-pay students and can skew the picture.
- Net price is an average across aided students and debt is the median for borrowers only — many students borrow nothing. Your actual cost depends on your own aid package.
What this means
$68k is near the national bachelor's-graduate median at the 10-year mark, and a 74% graduation rate is above the national average.
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