University of California-San Diego

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for University of California-San Diego

University of California-San Diego operates as a public institution located in La Jolla, California (city: large), with a total reported enrollment of 34,948 students of which 35,563 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. University of California-San Diego is categorized as “15” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 26.7%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $12,470, with published in-state tuition of $16,758 and a Pell grant recipient share of 34.2%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $15,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 86.8%, and the first-year retention rate is 94.0%. Graduates earn a median of $84,943 ten years after enrolling, compared with $65,669 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 802100.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 72.9% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.