Acceptance Rate History
University of California-Santa Cruz Acceptance Rate: 72.7% in 2025 (2013–2025 history)
CA · Current rate: 72.7%
What is University of California-Santa Cruz's acceptance rate in 2025?
University of California-Santa Cruz's acceptance rate in 2025 is 72.7%, up from 65.8% in 2024.
Common Data Set 2025-2026
What is University of California-Santa Cruz's out-of-state acceptance rate?
- In-state: 71.2% (37,433 admitted of 52,573 applicants)
- Out-of-state: 84.1% (6,097 admitted of 7,248 applicants)
- International: 72.4% (4,745 admitted of 6,554 applicants)
Out-of-state applicants were admitted at a higher rate than in-state applicants. International applicants were admitted at about the same rate as in-state applicants.
Fall 2025 · University of California-Santa Cruz Common Data Set (2025-26), section C1. Rates are our calculation from the counts the college reported.
Year-by-Year Data
| Year | Acceptance Rate | Applicants | Admitted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 72.7% | 66,374 | 48,274 |
| 2024 | 65.8% | 71,722 | 47,186 |
| 2023 | 62.5% | 68,845 | 43,054 |
| 2022 | 46.9% | 65,912 | 30,926 |
| 2021 | 58.6% | 61,695 | 36,177 |
| 2020 | 64.7% | 54,988 | 35,591 |
| 2019 | 51.3% | 55,796 | 28,629 |
| 2018 | 47.4% | 56,586 | 26,803 |
| 2017 | 50.9% | 52,969 | 26,984 |
| 2016 | 57.9% | 49,181 | 28,452 |
| 2015 | 50.3% | 45,532 | 22,897 |
| 2014 | 55.7% | 40,727 | 22,695 |
| 2013 | 59.9% | 33,137 | 19,851 |
Source: IPEDS Admissions Survey (NCES) · College Scorecard
Cost
The same school, two different prices
Family income under $30k: $8,717/yr · Family income over $110k: $33,323/yr (AY 2023–24)
Average paid by students receiving federal aid, by family income (College Scorecard). In-state students only. International students are not eligible for U.S. federal aid, so they are not in this cohort and typically pay closer to the sticker price.
High-income families typically pay closer to sticker.
Aid for international students
University of California-Santa Cruz's average institutional aid award to international undergraduates was $11,055 (2025-2026 Common Data Set).
These figures describe only the international students who actually received aid — not what a typical international admit can expect. International students outside this group pay the full sticker price.
Source: official Common Data Set filing
How to read these numbers
- The 2025 rate covers University of California-Santa Cruz's whole applicant pool — early and regular applications counted together in one figure. It is not the rate of any single round.
- The table above holds 13 reported years, 2013 through 2025. Across them University of California-Santa Cruz's rate ranged from 46.9% to 72.7%, so any single year is one point inside that range.
Each figure above describes a class a school already admitted in a completed cycle. It is a record of who was admitted, not a measurement of any one application.
Source: College Scorecard · IPEDS Admissions Survey (NCES) · U.S. Dept. of Education
Where do you stand?
School
University of California-Santa Cruz
University of California-Santa Cruz
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Trend Analysis
University of California-Santa Cruz's acceptance rate has increased from 59.9% in 2013 to 72.7% in 2025. The most notable shift occurred in 2023.
Analysis compiled from official data trends.
Similar Schools — Acceptance Rate History
Data sourced from IPEDS and College Scorecard. Does not represent endorsements or guarantee admission outcomes.