University of California-Santa Barbara Acceptance Rate & Admissions

The University of California-Santa Barbara admitted 33.0% of applicants, well below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 110,187 applicants, 42,093 admitted, and 5,081 enrolled first-year students.

The University of California-Santa Barbara enrolled 23,113 undergraduates in its most recent census. Pell Grant recipients make up 27.9% of undergraduates, and an estimated 29.9% of students enter as transfers or part-time students.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 110,187 first-year applicants, 42,093 admitted students, and 5,081 enrolled first-year students. For transfer applicants that same cycle, it reported 18,872 applicants, 11,139 admitted, and 2,036 enrolled.

The admission rate of 33.0% sits well below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). Transfer applicants should note the substantial transfer pipeline: the university admitted 11,139 of 18,872 transfer applicants in the 2025-26 cycle.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, University of California-Santa Barbara reported a retention rate of 93% for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class. For the first-time, full-time fall 2019 entering class, the six-year graduation rate was 84.0%, with Pell recipients completing at 82.0%, below the rate for the cohort as a whole.

The university retains 93.0% of full-time first-year bachelor’s students, higher than the 83.1% median for comparable institutions. The six-year graduation rate is 83.0%, also higher than the 65.0% peer median.

Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort finish at 63.9%, a level 19.1 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate. Enrolled students can expect retention and completion levels higher than the medians for comparable institutions, while Pell recipients complete at a lower rate.