Undergrad ProgramsGraduate Programs

University of California - Santa Cruz 2025 Best Colleges Ranking Media Kit

College Factual has released it’s Best Colleges Rankings for 2025 and University of California - Santa Cruz has received a top placement. You can read more about this year’s release or keep reading for details on how UC Santa Cruz did in this year’s report.

This page was created to give you an overview of how UC Santa Cruz fared in College Factual’s Best Colleges Rankings.

How University of California - Santa Cruz Fared in College Factual’s 2025 Best Colleges Rankings

Nationwide Ranking

UC Santa Cruz ranked #91 out of 2,152 schools analyzed in the 2025 Best Colleges Ranking. This scores University of California - Santa Cruz among the top 5% of higher education institutions in the United States for students!

View the Best Colleges Ranking

California Ranking

UC Santa Cruz has been ranked #13 out of 161 in College Factual’s Best Colleges Ranking. This puts it in the best 5% of higher education institutions in the nation for California students! See the Best Colleges in California ranking

This report includes highlighted rankings from the following degree levels:

• Bachelor’s Degree Rankings

Bachelor’s Degree Rankings

Rankings by Major

In addition to the top overall ranking, UC Santa Cruz has been ranked for quality bachelor’s degree programs:

Ranking Name	Rank	Out Of	Percentile
Best Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	28	933	97.0%
Best Natural Resources & Conservation Bachelor’s Degree Schools	14	235	94.0%
Best Foreign Languages & Linguistics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	14	206	93.2%
Best General Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	24	925	97.4%
Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools	94	1,187	92.1%
Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	67	816	91.8%
Best Linguistics & Comparative Literature Bachelor’s Degree Schools	6	103	94.2%
Best Natural Resources Conservation Bachelor’s Degree Schools	14	233	94.0%
Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	67	609	89.0%
Best Business/Managerial Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	8	98	91.8%
Best Sociology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	35	460	92.4%
Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	12	144	91.7%
Best Computer & Information Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	76	597	87.3%
Best General Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	81	883	90.8%
Best Ethnic Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	10	97	89.7%
Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	36	244	85.3%
Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools	20	189	89.4%
Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools	57	378	84.9%
Best Fine & Studio Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools	48	437	89.0%
Best Chemistry Bachelor’s Degree Schools	28	238	88.2%
Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools	90	556	83.8%
Best Political Science & Government Bachelor’s Degree Schools	69	573	88.0%
Best Information Technology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	17	134	87.3%
Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	18	102	82.4%
Best Computer Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools	45	345	87.0%
Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	12	86	86.1%
Best Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools	61	344	82.3%
Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools	57	416	86.3%
Best Legal Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools	11	51	78.4%
Best Computer Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools	33	189	82.5%
Best Anthropology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	46	255	82.0%
Best Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	5	111	95.5%
Best Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	9	42	78.6%
Best Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	77	384	80.0%
Best Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	4	61	93.4%
Best Information Technology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	1	9	88.9%
Best Business/Managerial Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	1	8	87.5%
Best Business/Managerial Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	1	7	85.7%
Best Foreign Languages & Linguistics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	3	37	91.9%
Best General Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	4	98	95.9%
Best Public Administration & Social Service Bachelor’s Degree Schools	112	417	73.1%
Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	12	132	90.9%
Best Foreign Languages & Linguistics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	3	21	85.7%
Best General Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	4	60	93.3%
Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	10	89	88.8%
Best Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	66	265	75.1%
Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	11	82	86.6%
Best Computer & Information Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	11	78	85.9%
Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	8	53	84.9%
Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	10	68	85.3%
Best Natural Resources & Conservation Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	7	42	83.3%
Best Linguistics & Comparative Literature Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	3	19	84.2%
Best Mathematics & Statistics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	87	268	67.5%
Best Non-Professional General Legal Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	10	31	67.7%
Best Sociology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	9	69	87.0%
Best Mathematics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	84	280	70.0%
Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	6	30	80.0%
Best General Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	12	89	86.5%
Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	9	47	80.9%
Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	8	53	84.9%
Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	6	37	83.8%
Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools	85	272	68.8%
Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	8	39	79.5%
Best Natural Resources & Conservation Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	5	22	77.3%
Best Political Science & Government Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	11	71	84.5%
Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	5	28	82.1%
Best Linguistics & Comparative Literature Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	3	14	78.6%
Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	5	27	81.5%
Best Sociology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	8	47	83.0%
Best Natural Resources Conservation Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	7	40	82.5%
Best Fine & Studio Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	7	40	82.5%
Best Fine & Studio Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	10	59	83.1%
Best Computer Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	10	59	83.1%
Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	10	46	78.3%
Best Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	3	13	76.9%
Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	7	30	76.7%
Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	5	20	75.0%
Best Chemistry Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	7	38	81.6%
Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	18	82	78.1%
Best Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	12	53	77.4%
Best Ethnic Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	6	30	80.0%
Best Natural Resources Conservation Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	5	24	79.2%
Best Ethnic Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	5	23	78.3%
Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	7	34	79.4%
Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	4	17	76.5%
Best Mathematics & Statistics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	10	41	75.6%
Best General Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	11	53	79.3%
Best Computer & Information Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	10	39	74.4%
Best Political Science & Government Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	10	46	78.3%
Best Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	12	55	78.2%
Best Anthropology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	9	40	77.5%
Best Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	10	44	77.3%
Best Computer Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	9	39	76.9%
Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	4	14	71.4%
Best Mathematics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	10	39	74.4%
Best Computer Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	8	29	72.4%
Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	15	50	70.0%
Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	7	21	66.7%
Best Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	8	28	71.4%
Best Chemistry Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	7	24	70.8%
Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	9	30	70.0%
Best Anthropology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	8	26	69.2%
Best Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	11	35	68.6%
Best Music Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	19	58	67.2%

About College Factual

College Factual’s mission is to help all students find their best-fit college, career, and major and the most affordable path to get there. Located in the Capital Region of New York, we offer free resources to students domestically and internationally to help them find their future faster.

Learn more about College Factual

How The Top Colleges Were Determined

College Factual's rankings were designed to help students make a better decision about where to invest their time and money to best meet their goals. The rankings are based on objective data and focused on student outcomes.

Read the Ranking Methodology for more details.

Explore more University of California - Santa Cruz Rankings

Contact Us

All logos and editorial content on www.collegefactual.com and any of its affiliate sites are trademark and copyright protected. All commercial use requires the express written consent of College Factual.

If you would like permission to use your badge or have access to a full press release to promote your awards, please contact us at [email protected].