🎓 College profile
University of California-Santa Cruz
CA · Public · Small city · 68,845 applicants 2023
🎯 Parent/student verdict
MatchSolid match for academically prepared students. Affordable on average — net price runs around $17,890/yr.
✅ Best for
- Students drawn to Computer & Information Sciences or Biological & Biomedical Sciences (the two biggest majors)
- Research-oriented students (R1 — top tier of federal research funding)
🎯 The reality
- Out-of-state tuition is 3.1× the in-state rate
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
🏛️ Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
📊 Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
💰 True ROI
9.6× returnWhat families actually pay (after aid) vs. the sticker — and how 10-yr earnings stack against the real cost. Most sites quote sticker; we quote what families really pay.
"True ROI" = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (actual 4-yr net price). The actual net is from Scorecard (average across all families); your family's net price will vary by income — see the breakdown above. Earnings are 10 years after enrollment (Scorecard PP-FOS, all majors combined).
💰 What families actually pay
Net price by family income
Net price = sticker price minus grant aid. This is what families actually pay out-of-pocket after scholarships and need-based aid — the most honest affordability signal there is. At University of California-Santa Cruz, the average net price is $17,890/yr across all families.
🔎 Earning over $110K? The federal brackets above lump every family from $110K to $1M+ into one row.
Need-based aid usually phases out somewhere between $200K and $300K at private colleges — but the exact threshold varies a lot. For a precise estimate based on your family's actual income, assets, and your student's academic profile, use University of California-Santa Cruz's official Net Price Calculator:
Get your family's estimate from University of California-Santa Cruz →Opens on University of California-Santa Cruz's site. Takes about 10–15 minutes; have your most recent tax return handy.
Source: College Scorecard (NPT41-NPT45). Net price = total cost of attendance minus federal, state, institutional, and other grants. Some brackets may be suppressed for student-privacy reasons (small cohorts). Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates only. The $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — Department of Education hasn't refreshed these brackets since the early 2010s.
📚 What students study here
Most popular majors at University of California-Santa Cruz
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what University of California-Santa Cruz actually graduates — not just what it markets.
Source: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a), bachelor's-level first majors aggregated to 2-digit CIP family. Share is of these top 5 only — not all majors.
💼 Top programs by earnings
Highest-earning majors at University of California-Santa Cruz
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major (CIP code). From the federal College Scorecard program-level outcomes.
| Major (CIP) | Credential | Cohort | 1-yr earnings | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 132 | $79,969 | $124,641 |
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | 607 | $75,150 | $123,422 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 40 | $78,842 | $118,290 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 11 | $55,856 | $98,567 |
| Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management. | Bachelor's Degree | 98 | $55,773 | $94,589 |
| Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology. | Bachelor's Degree | 49 | $40,320 | $88,305 |
| Business/Managerial Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | 287 | $52,029 | $82,064 |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | 162 | $50,518 | $76,382 |
| Cognitive Science. | Bachelor's Degree | 129 | $35,384 | $72,125 |
| Chemistry. | Bachelor's Degree | 54 | $39,700 | $71,348 |
For full college-vs-major comparison + ROI leaderboards, see /college-outcomes →
🤖 AI program signal
AI + computing education at University of California-Santa Cruz
Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →
⚖️ Compare side-by-side
University of California-Santa Cruz vs. another college
Type the college you want to compare against. We'll show admit rates, net price by your family income, top majors with career outcomes, and merit aid — all in one side-by-side view.
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