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The University of California - Santa Cruz Student to Faculty Ratio & Faculty Composition

Does University of California - Santa Cruz have a good student to faculty ratio?

Check out the information on class structures and faculty to get a feel for the academic life at University of California - Santa Cruz .

Below Average Student to Faculty Ratio

Student to faculty ratio is one of the standard metrics used to gauge the number of teaching resources a school provides for its students. With 19 students for every one instructional faculty member, University of California - Santa Cruz has more students split among the same faculty when compared to the national average of 15 . This metric might be an indicator that larger class sizes may be the norm, especially in introductory courses.

Breakdown of Instructional Staff

The following table shows all the employees the school considers instructional, and therefore, part of the above student-to-faculty ratio. These include both those employees designated as either "primarily instructional" or as "instructional combined with research/public service". It does not include employees that have been identified by University of California - Santa Cruz as primarily performing research or public service.

TotalFull TimePart TimePercent Full Time
Total of Instructional Employees91868823074.9%
Total of Those With Faculty Status91568722875.1%
Tenured Faculty442434898.2%
On Tenure Track147145298.6%
Not on Tenure Track32610821833.1%
Without Faculty Status31233.3%
Graduate Assistants1,162-1,162-

This School is Seriously Committed to Hiring Full-Time Teachers

University of California - Santa Cruz's utilization of full-time teaching staff ranks among the highest in the nation, with 75.0% of instructors employed full time.

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Low Percentage of Part-Time Teachers (Adjuncts)

At University of California - Santa Cruz , only 24.0% of the teaching staff are part-time non-faculty or non-tenure track faculty. This use of adjuncts is far below the national average of 51.4%, which could be indicative of University of California - Santa Cruz's commitment to building a strong, long-term instructional team.

Colleges often use part-time professors and adjuncts to teach courses, rather than full-time faculty. This hiring practice is primarily a way to save money amid increasingly tight budgets. However, it is a controversial practice with strong views on either side. We encourage you to understand this topic more deeply, and how the colleges you are interested in approach faculty hiring. It's your education and your money on the line. Make sure you know what you are getting for it.

Additional Information

Keep an Eye Out for Grad Assistants Teaching Classes

University of California - Santa Cruz has 1,162 instructional graduate assistants that teach or provide teaching-related duties. These responsibilities could range from entirely teaching lower-level courses themselves, to assisting professors by developing teaching materials, preparing or giving exams and grading student work. We suggest you ask the college to what extent graduate assistants are relied on for instruction, so you know what you are paying for.

Additionally, the school has 395 non-instructional graduate assistants.

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