University of California-San Diego

Overview

Rankings

• #7 Best Biology Colleges in California
• #10 Best Bachelor's Programs in California
• #10 Best Master's Programs in California
• #11 Best Engineering Colleges in California
• #11 Best MBA Programs in California
• #13 Best HSI Bachelor's Programs
• #13 Best HSI Master's Programs
• #13 Best Computer Science Colleges in California

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into University of California-San Diego? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

Based in La Jolla, California, University of California-San Diego reviews applications selectively. The acceptance rate runs near 27%. The graduation rate is roughly 87%.

Acceptance Rate

27%

Retention Rate

94%

Full-Time Faculty

88%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$19,117

Student–Faculty Ratio

19:1

Diversity Index

0.76

First-Gen Students

40%

Applicants

131,197

Admitted

31,103

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2024-25

The acceptance rate tells you how hard University of California-San Diego is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 20% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school most admitted students ultimately pass on.

Yield Rate

20%

of admits enroll

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend University of California-San Diego? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at University of California-San Diego is $50,958, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $12,470. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $7,525 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $15,500 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$16,758

Out-of-State

$50,958

Avg Net Price

$12,470

Median Debt

$15,500

Pell Grant Rate

34%

Federal Loan Rate

21%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at University of California-San Diego — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is University of California-San Diego Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of University of California-San Diego earn a median of $84,943, well above the national average for bachelor's degree holders.

6 Years After Entry

$65,669

8 Years

$77,893

10 Years

$84,943

Debt-to-Earnings

0.18x

Earning > $25K

73%

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is University of California-San Diego? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at University of California-San Diego. Its economic connectedness score is 1.83, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (-0.00), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 12% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.83

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

-0.00

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

12.1%

Support Ratio

0.98

Community support

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Top Programs

The fields University of California-San Diego awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Biology & Biomedical 19% $84,379 early-career
• Engineering 12% $94,685 early-career
• Social Sciences 9% $55,013 early-career
• Psychology 9% $36,562 early-career
• Computer Science & IT 7% $103,339 early-career
• Business & Marketing 6% $57,547 early-career
• Health Professions 4% $40,073 early-career
• Mathematics & Statistics 3% $49,999 early-career

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.