University of California - San Diego Data & Information Overview
This overview covers the essential stats on University of California - San Diego, including its rankings, majors, diversity, and more. All you need to do to learn more about a stat is click on its tile, and you’ll be taken to another page that analyzes that data more closely. Also, you can use the links below to scroll to any section of this page.- Rankings
- Admission and Acceptance
- Faculty
- Retention and Graduation Rates
- Diversity
- Cost
- Student Debt
- Average Earnings
- Location
- Majors
- Online Learning
- Related Schools
How Well Is University of California - San Diego Ranked?
2023 Rankings
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
University of California - San Diego was awarded 2,091 badges in the 2023 rankings.
Overall Quality
UCSD is ranked #49 out of 2,241 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual's 2023 Best Colleges list. This lands it a coveted spot in the top 5% of all colleges and universities in the country. This is an improvement over the previous year, when UCSD held the #129 spot on the Best Overall Colleges list.
UCSD is also ranked #9 out of 170 schools in California.
See all of the rankings for University of California - San Diego.
Is It Hard to Get Into UCSD?
Acceptance Rate
University of California - San Diego has an acceptance rate of 37%, which means the school is serious about who it admits. Take your time in putting together a strong application that highlights why you are a good fit for UCSD.
Average Test Scores
About 89% of students accepted to UCSD submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 620 and 710. Math scores were between 650 and 770.
Learn more about University of California - San Diego admissions.
University of California - San Diego Faculty
Student to Faculty Ratio
The student to faculty ratio is often used as a measure to gauge how much access students will have to their professors - the lower the number, the better. At University of California - San Diego, this rate is 19 to 1, which is high when compared to the national average of 15 to 1.
Percent of Full-Time Faculty
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at University of California - San Diego is 86%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Retention and Graduation Rates at University of California - San Diego
Freshmen Retention Rate
University of California - San Diego has a freshmen retention rate of 94%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
Graduation Rate
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor's degree is typically four years. This rate at UCSD for first-time, full-time students is 62%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at University of California - San Diego.
University of California - San Diego Undergraduate Student Diversity
During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 31,842 undergraduates at UCSD with 30,939 being full-time and 903 being part-time.
How Much Does University of California - San Diego Cost?
The overall average net price of UCSD is $15,240. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.Net Price by Income Group for UCSD
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $9,823 | $11,176 | $14,310 | $20,906 | $29,132 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of UCSD, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Student Loan Debt
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At UCSD, approximately 33% of students took out student loans averaging $6,268 a year. That adds up to $25,072 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at UCSD is 1.0%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Get more details about paying for University of California - San Diego.
How Much Money Do UCSD Graduates Make?
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor's degree from UCSD make about $74,771 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. That's great news for UCSD students since it is 76% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.
See which majors at University of California - San Diego make the most money.
Location of University of California - San Diego
University of California - San Diego is a public institution located in La Jolla, California. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life.Get more details about the location of University of California - San Diego.
Contact details for UCSD are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093 |
| Phone: | 858-534-2230 |
| Website: | www.ucsd.edu/ |
| Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/UCSanDiegoLife |
| Twitter: | http://twitter.com/ucsandiego |
University of California - San Diego Majors
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 88 majors graduated from University of California - San Diego. Of these students, 9,086 received undergraduate degrees and 2,850 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.| Most Popular Majors | Bachelor’s Degrees | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Cognitive Science | 699 | $39,060 |
| International Studies | 585 | $41,542 |
| Computer Science | 537 | $87,738 |
| Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences | 530 | NA |
| Political Science & Government | 453 | $28,579 |
| Economics | 436 | $42,370 |
| Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology | 347 | $33,915 |
| Public Health | 313 | $30,159 |
| Chemistry | 311 | $38,643 |
| General Biology | 268 | $26,086 |
Online Learning at UCSD
Online courses area a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
In 2019-2020, 36,854 students took at least one online class at University of California - San Diego. This is an increase from the 398 students who took online classes the previous year.
| Year | Took at Least One Online Class | Took All Classes Online |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-2020 | 36,854 | 26,615 |
| 2018-2019 | 398 | 8 |
| 2017-2018 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016-2017 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015-2016 | 0 | 0 |
Learn more about online learning at University of California - San Diego.
Find Out More About University of California - San Diego
Related Schools
If you’re considering University of California - San Diego, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.
- University of California - Los Angeles
- University of Colorado Boulder
- University of Connecticut
- University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus
- University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Curious on how these schools stack up against UCSD? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!
Notes and References
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
- National Center for Education Statistics
- College Scorecard
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
- Image Credit: By Znode at English Wikipedia under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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