Cost & financial aid brief
University of California-Santa Cruz Tuition, Costs & Financial Aid
How much does UC Santa Cruz cost after financial aid?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that first-year aid recipients with need had an average 88% of need met for the 2025-26 academic year. Their average need-based grant was $31,152, and their average aid package was $35,200.
The university reported 2,379 first-year students determined to have financial need and 2,318 receiving need-based grant aid. For the average aid recipient, the difference between the published cost of $41,179 and the average net price of $17,890 is $23,289.
Aid covers about 57% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. The lowest income band averages $8,717, compared with $33,323 for the highest band.
The lower average net prices in the lower-income bands show that the published discount is concentrated more heavily among aid recipients with lower family incomes.
The published cost of attendance is $41,179, with costs after grants and scholarships differing across family-income bands. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $8,717 in the lowest family-income band; $10,613 in the lower-middle band; $14,418 in the middle band; $18,986 in the upper-middle band; and $33,323 in the highest band.
The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $24,606, and Azimuth ranks University of California-Santa Cruz #372 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 57% of the published cost and offsets $23,289 against the sticker price.
For first-time full-time aid recipients, the average net price is $17,890. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $15,634, placing the university's average net price $2,256 above that benchmark.
Aid offsets much of the published cost, though the overall price remains above the comparable-institution midpoint. Among federal-loan borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $16,666, and 81.7% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.
Comparable institutions (same type and size) have median federal debt of $20,076, so the university's figure is $3,410 below the peer figure. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $189 a month if repaid over ten years.
Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $28,682.
Student loans: what does repayment look like?
At University of California-Santa Cruz, completing federal borrowers have a median debt figure below that of comparable institutions, even though 81.7% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Median federal student loan debt at completion is $16,666.
At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median federal debt is $20,076; the university's median is $3,410 below it. For the separate population of parent borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $28,682.
At University of California-Santa Cruz, four-year earnings sit above expectation and borrowing is lower than the peer benchmark. Median earnings four years after completion are $67,085, which Azimuth places in the 70th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.
Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, also rate well among nonprofit four-year institutions at the 69th percentile. Graduates earn about $4,331 more than the model expects for similar students.
Program-mix earnings scenarios set a downside at $49,865 and an upside at $110,656, with the typical scenario matching the reported median. Median federal debt at completion is $16,666, $3,410 below the $20,076 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size).
That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $189 a month if repaid over ten years. Above-expected earnings and lower peer debt point in the same direction.
For the separate parent-borrower population using Parent PLUS, median borrowing is $28,682. The median federal debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $189 a month if repaid over ten years.
Repayment figures are in the Financial GPS card below. Borrowing populations and model assumptions.
Parent loans: what can the family afford?
How Parent PLUS borrowing affects families
- Median Parent PLUS debt
- $28,682
- Estimated parent payment
- $364/mo
| Income | Risk level |
|---|---|
| $35,000 | High pressure |
| $50,000 | High pressure |
| $75,000 | High pressure |
| $100,000 | Caution |
| $150,000 | Safe |
| $200,000 | Safe |
The model holds the parent balance fixed and varies parent income. Read the assumptions and limits.
Student and parent loans: the monthly payments
Financial GPS
What does repayment look like?
- Institution median student debt
- $16,666
- Institution Parent PLUS debt
- $28,682
Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.
- Estimated student payment · monthly
- $189/mo
- Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
- $364/mo
- Modeled student + parent payments
- $553/mo
Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.
Student payment as a share of available income
At median graduate earnings of $67,085, with a $22,590 annual allowance for basic expenses:
5.1% of income above the allowance · Excellent
- Excellent Under 8% · selected scenario
- Good 8–under 12%
- Concerning 12–20%
- High risk Over 20%
How this estimate works
These are modeled earnings scenarios, not observed earnings percentiles. Annual student payments ÷ (earnings − basic-expense allowance). The starting allowance, $22,590, uses the published framework’s 2024 baseline; it is not a current local living-cost estimate. Change it for your budget, including taxes and other obligations. This combines school-level figures for illustration, not a typical individual’s budget or an official school rating. Parent PLUS is separate.
Payment assumptions
Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.
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.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.
Net price and borrowing. The 2023–24 income-band averages include living costs and cover eligible first-time, full-time aid recipients; public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. They are not individual aid offers. Peer matching supplies overall net prices, not matched income-band averages. College Scorecard data and documentation.
A personal student-risk assessment also needs your major and borrowing plan; these school-level illustrations do not assign you a personal risk zone.
Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates. Private-loan figures from the Common Data Set are separate from these federal repayment illustrations.