PlainCollege

University of Southern California vs University of California-Santa Barbara

Los Angeles, CA · Santa Barbara, CA · largest Scorecard gap: in-state tuition

Scorecard match plate

Pair CA:CA

MIXED-SECTOR · SAME-STATE · ACCEPT-GAP · NET-SPLIT · EARN-SPLIT · DEBT-SPLIT · COMPLETE-HIGH · GAP-TUITION

  • MIXED-SECTOR Mixed sector
  • SAME-STATE Same state · CA
  • ACCEPT-GAP Admission gap
  • NET-SPLIT Net-price split
  • EARN-SPLIT Earnings split
  • DEBT-SPLIT Debt split
  • COMPLETE-HIGH High completion
  • GAP-TUITION Largest gap · In-State Tuition

Instrument codes from this pair's College Scorecard ownership, geography, acceptance, net price, earnings, debt, and completion, plus the ENROLL-RACE · narrow · 2013–2023 decade-path stamp below, not a ranking or recommendation.

Decade path · College Scorecard

Nearly parallel enrollment growth

ENROLL-RACE · narrow · 2013–2023

Undergraduate headcount rose at both University of Southern California and University of California-Santa Barbara across 2013–2023 on similar paces, while acceptance rates tightened on both sides, a growth-under-squeeze pattern rather than a pure size race.

  • University of California-Santa Barbara: enrollment grew +19.8% over 2013–2023; fitted +397 students/yr fitted, r² 0.83.
  • University of Southern California: enrollment grew +15.1% over 2013–2023; fitted +285 students/yr fitted, r² 0.94.
  • University of Southern California: acceptance rate tightened -49.5% across 2013–2023 (r² 0.80).
  • University of California-Santa Barbara: acceptance rate tightened -37.5% across 2013–2023 (r² 0.63).

College Scorecard institution series; dollars are nominal. Direction claims require r² ≥ 0.40 on the fitted annual slope, otherwise the page reports the observed range. Descriptive history, not a recommendation.

Scorecard metrics

Cards ordered by relative gap on this pair. Teal = better side.

Largest gaps: University of Southern California vs University of California-Santa Barbara

  1. IN-STATE-TUITION University of California-Santa Barbara leads on in-state tuition ($16,414 vs $72,097 at University of Southern California)
  2. ACCEPTANCE-RATE University of Southern California leads on acceptance rate (9.8% vs 33.0% at University of California-Santa Barbara)
  3. AVG-NET-PRICE University of California-Santa Barbara leads on avg net price ($16,109 vs $32,740 at University of Southern California)

University of Southern California profile · University of California-Santa Barbara profile · Compare other colleges

In-State Tuition and other Scorecard questions

On in-state tuition, who leads between University of Southern California and University of California-Santa Barbara?▼
University of California-Santa Barbara leads on in-state tuition at $16,414 versus $72,097 at University of Southern California. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
On acceptance rate, who leads between University of Southern California and University of California-Santa Barbara?▼
University of Southern California leads on acceptance rate at 9.8% versus 33.0% at University of California-Santa Barbara. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
On avg net price, who leads between University of Southern California and University of California-Santa Barbara?▼
University of California-Santa Barbara leads on avg net price at $16,109 versus $32,740 at University of Southern California. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard College Scorecard institution outcomes (earnings, completion, debt); in-state tuition focus for this pair · 2025