A public R1 research university in La Jolla, CA, admitting 26.71% of applicants with nationally ranked science and engineering programs and a test-free admissions policy.
La Jolla, California
The University of California San Diego is a public R1 research university in La Jolla, California, founded in 1960. It enrolls 34,948 undergraduates and 9,301 graduate students across seven residential colleges and schools, including the Jacobs School of Engineering, the Halicioğlu Data Science Institute, the School of Biological Sciences, the School of Physical Sciences, the Rady School of Management, the School of Global Policy and Strategy, and the School of Arts and Humanities. Biological sciences, computer science, engineering, and social sciences account for the largest shares of bachelor's degrees.
UCSD holds a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity (R1) Carnegie classification and is accredited through the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). UCSD is test-free; the University of California system eliminated SAT and ACT requirements in 2021, and scores are neither required nor considered in admissions. UCSD is designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI). California residents from families earning up to $80,000 per year may qualify for the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, which covers systemwide fees with no loan requirement.
Official website: ucsd.edu
UCD scores every college on four pillars: Outcomes, Value, Affordability, and Selectivity. Within peer group A (four-year selective institutions), UCSD scores 92.77 overall, rated Excellent. Value scores 96.80, driven by ten-year earnings of $84,943 relative to an average net price of $12,470. Outcomes (93.46) reflects an 86.05% six-year graduation rate and an 88.92% rate of graduates earning above the high school median at ten years. Affordability scores 69.42. All scores use verified federal data only.
UCSD admits 26.71% of applicants. UCSD is test-free; SAT and ACT scores are neither required nor considered for University of California applicants. UCSD uses the UC Application (not Common App) with required personal insight questions. The University of California application deadline is November 30 for fall admission. Applicants select a major at the time of application; UCSD does not offer an undeclared option for domestic freshmen in most colleges.
Admission to UCSD is competitive within the UC system; engineering, CS, and biological sciences are the most competitive majors by intended major admit rates. UCSD's residential college system places each undergraduate in one of seven colleges (Revelle, Muir, Marshall, Warren, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sixth, and Eighth), each with its own general education requirements and residential culture.
Acceptance rate over the last five admission cycles. The trend tells you whether University of California-San Diego is getting harder, easier, or staying about the same.
For California residents, UCSD charges $16,758 in tuition plus an estimated $18,970 in room and board, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $38,701 before aid. For out-of-state students, tuition is $50,958, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $72,000 before aid. The average net price across all enrolled students is $12,470. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $7,525.
For families earning between $30,001 and $48,000, the net price averages $8,155. For families earning between $75,001 and $110,000, the net price averages $15,199. For families earning above $110,000, it averages $28,785. The Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan covers systemwide fees for California residents from families earning up to $80,000, with no loan requirement for qualifying students. The federal loan rate of 21.39% and median debt of $15,500 reflect the mix of in-state (lower cost) and out-of-state students.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Application fee: $80 (one-time, due at submission)
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
UCSD completes the large majority of the students it enrolls. The six-year graduation rate is 86.05% for full-time, first-time bachelor's-seeking students. The four-year rate is 83.50%, and first-year retention stands at 93.97%. The federal loan rate of 21.39% and median debt of $15,500 are moderate for a school at this selectivity level, reflecting California's strong need-based aid programs for lower-income in-state students.
UCSD graduates earn above the national median for public research universities. Median earnings are $65,669 six years after first enrolling and $84,943 at ten years. At the ten-year mark, 88.92% of former students earn more than a typical high school graduate. The earnings reflect UCSD's heavy concentration in biological sciences, computer science, and engineering, fields that feed directly into San Diego's biotech and defense industries, and the broader Bay Area and Southern California technology sectors.
Jacobs School of Engineering and computer science graduates are heavily recruited by technology employers in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley. UCSD's proximity to the Torrey Pines research cluster, including the Salk Institute, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, and numerous biotech companies, creates direct pipelines into life sciences research and industry.
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
Share of completer-cohort borrowers paying down at least $1 of principal at the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year mark. Climbing rates show graduates settling into careers and managing debt; flat or declining rates are a warning.
UCSD enrolls 34,948 undergraduates on its campus in La Jolla, a coastal neighborhood of San Diego, approximately 12 miles north of downtown. Asian students account for 34.64% of undergraduates; Hispanic 26.51%, white 17.18%, and Black 1.63%. UCSD's demographic profile reflects California's population more broadly: it is one of the few selective research universities where white students are not the largest racial group.
Thirty-four percent of undergraduates receive Pell grants, and 39.57% are first-generation college students, among the highest rates of any top-50 public university in the country. San Diego is home to major employers in defense technology (General Atomics, Northrop Grumman, Leidos), biotech (Illumina, Vertex, Qualcomm), and healthcare, all within commuting distance of campus.
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
Where students live, learn, and connect at University of California-San Diego. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
University of California-San Diego offers an extensive catalog of programs: 169 distinct programs across 23 majors. Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings. Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
UCSD operates at a student-to-faculty ratio consistent with large research universities. 87.66% of instruction is delivered by full-time faculty. Instructional spending per full-time equivalent student is $26,067 per year. The endowment stands at $1.56 billion, modest for a university of UCSD's research output, which is funded primarily through federal grants rather than endowment income.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography is one of the oldest and most important centers for ocean and earth science research in the world. The Jacobs School of Engineering and the UC San Diego Health system are major research and clinical enterprises. UCSD faculty and alumni have received more than 30 Nobel Prizes.
3,064 instructional faculty across 5 ranks. The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
| Rank | Faculty Count | Share | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Professors | 1,369 | 45% | $223,825 |
| Associate Professors | 677 | 22% | $154,658 |
| Assistant Professors | 696 | 23% | $128,849 |
| Lecturers | 321 | 10% | $110,066 |
| No Rank | 1 | 0% | $64,488 |
UCSD's defining strengths are its 92.77 Excellent UCD score, exceptional Value (96.80) driven by a $12,470 net price relative to $84,943 ten-year earnings, test-free admissions, a 34.64% Asian and 26.51% Hispanic student body (the most demographically distinct in this peer group), and the Torrey Pines research cluster adjacent to campus. UCD 92.77 Excellent.
The trade-offs: La Jolla is not a college-town neighborhood (the beach is nearby, but the campus feels insular); the residential college system, while excellent, requires navigating different GE requirements; the small endowment ($1.56B) limits graduate fellowships and some facilities relative to Berkeley or UCLA; and the 26.71% admit rate, while lower than Ohio State or Penn State, is higher than UC Berkeley or UCLA for the same in-state cost. Best fit for California residents targeting science, engineering, CS, or biotech who want strong research access, high value, and an exceptionally diverse student body at public tuition.
The questions below address what students and families most commonly search about UCSD: how it compares to UCLA and UC Berkeley, what the residential college system is, how test-free admissions work, and what graduates earn.
One federal dataset, 3,839 colleges. The median school costs $16,371 a year, admits 78% of applicants, and enrolls 1,259 students. The shape of US higher ed.
Across 1,645 four-year colleges, graduation rates climb steadily with selectivity, from 54% at open-admission schools to 93% at the most exclusive. The gap is real.
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