University of California-Santa Cruz

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for University of California-Santa Cruz

University of California-Santa Cruz operates as a public institution located in Santa Cruz, California (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 17,940 students of which 19,258 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-Santa Cruz 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 65.8%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $17,890, with published in-state tuition of $16,005 and a Pell grant recipient share of 31.6%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $16,666, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 74.8%, and the first-year retention rate is 87.9%. Graduates earn a median of $68,396 ten years after enrolling, compared with $49,716 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 552700.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 60.7% 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.