Admissions & selectivity
University of California-Santa Cruz Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at UC Santa Cruz?
UC Santa Cruz’s reported acceptance rate is 65.8%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 65.8%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
Source: University of California-Santa Cruz Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Admission to University of California-Santa Cruz was reported at 65.8%, meaning that rate describes the share of applicants admitted in the reported entering class. That sits below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size), so applicants should plan an application that presents their academic record and preparation clearly.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 66,374 first-year applicants, 48,274 admitted, and 4,596 enrolled.
What SAT and ACT scores do UC Santa Cruz students report?
SAT and ACT ranges are not available for UC Santa Cruz in the data shown here. Missing scores do not establish whether tests are required, optional or excluded from review.
Figures cover fall 2024.
Who enrolls at UC Santa Cruz?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 31.6%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 22.7%
- First-year retention
- 87.9%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
Transfer entry and Pell Grant participation are both visible parts of the undergraduate mix. At University of California-Santa Cruz, 31.6% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 22.7% enter as transfers or part-time students; federal undergraduate enrollment is 17,940.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 66,374 first-year applicants, 48,274 admitted applicants, and 4,596 enrolled first-year students. Its transfer figures list 12,832 applicants, 8,860 admitted applicants, and 1,322 enrolled transfers.
The Pell share and estimated transfer presence describe a campus serving entrants with differing financial circumstances and prior college experience.
Federal outcomes point to persistence and completion rates above the middle value for comparable institutions. University of California-Santa Cruz retains 87.9% of its first-year cohort, above the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of 83.1%.
Its six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 75.1%, above the comparable-institution median of 65.0%. Pell recipients complete within six years at 67.9%, below the overall rate by 7.2 percentage points.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 90% of the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class returned the next fall. For the first-time, full-time fall 2019 entering class, it reported a 73.8% six-year graduation rate; Pell recipients had a 70.4% rate, below the overall rate.
Enrolled students can expect retention and completion measures that track both return after the first year and completion over six years.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.