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University of San Diego: Rankings, Admissions, Cost & Majors

424 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
52% Acceptance Rate

University of San Diego is a private not-for-profit institution in San Diego, California enrolling 5,671 undergraduates. It accepts 52% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 84%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #80 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 2%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.

Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.

How Is University of San Diego Ranked?

University of San Diego ranks #80 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 2%.

#80 Best Colleges in Nation
#16 Best Colleges in CA
University of San Diego ranking badge

2027 Rankings

College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.

University of San Diego was awarded 424 badges in the 2027 rankings.

Overall Quality

College Factual ranked USD as #80 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.

USD is also ranked #16 on the Best Colleges in California list.

See all of the rankings for University of San Diego.

Is It Hard to Get Into University of San Diego?

52% Acceptance Rate
53% Of Accepted Are Women

Acceptance Rate

The acceptance rate at University of San Diego is a competitive 52%, so make sure you take your application seriously when putting it together. Even leaving out a minor detail could be a reason to move you to the rejection pile.

Learn more about University of San Diego admissions.

What Is the Student-to-Faculty Ratio at University of San Diego?

13 to 1 Student to Faculty
54% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

With a student to faculty ratio of 13 to 1, University of San Diego is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.

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 San Diego is 54%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  54 out of 100
0
100

What Are the Graduation and Retention Rates at University of San Diego?

91% Freshmen Retention
84% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

The freshmen retention rate of 91% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like University of San Diego enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  91 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At USD the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 84%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  84 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at University of San Diego.

How Diverse Is University of San Diego?

5,671 Undergraduate Students
47.9% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
55.7% Percent Women

The current enrollment includes 5,671 undergraduates at USD.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at University of San Diego.

How Much Does University of San Diego Cost?

$17,140 Net Price
32% Take Out Loans
$25,656 Total Student Loans

The average net price of USD is $17,140. 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 USD

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$15,586 $17,441 $19,557 $27,012 $46,989

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 price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of USD, 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 USD, approximately 32% of students took out student loans averaging $6,414 a year. That adds up to $25,656 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 2.0%. 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 San Diego.

How Much Do University of San Diego Graduates Earn?

$86,522 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost

Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from University of San Diego with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $86,522 in their early years. This is good news for future University of San Diego graduates since it is 76% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. Average Salary for University of San Diego Graduates

See which majors at University of San Diego make the most money.

Where Is University of San Diego Located?

California State
5,671 Undergraduate Students
Large City Campus Setting

University of San Diego is a private not-for-profit institution located in San Diego, 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 San Diego.

Location of University of San Diego

Get in touch with University of San Diego are listed below.

Contact Details
Address: 5998 Alcala Park, San Diego, CA 92110-2492
Phone: 6192604600
Website: www.sandiego.edu
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_San_Diego
Facebook: www.facebook.com/usandiego
Twitter: twitter.com/uofsandiego

What Majors Does University of San Diego Offer?

25 Majors With Completions
6,760 Undergraduate Degrees

In the latest year of available data, students from 25 majors graduated from University of San Diego. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Completions Average Salary of Graduates
Multi-Disciplinary Studies 3,380 NA
Business Administration & Management 327 $75,290
Finance & Financial Management 239 $58,434
Law 234 $71,367
Real Estate 155 $58,970
Criminal Justice & Corrections 121 $116,926
Legal Support Services 120 NA
Marketing 112 $50,592
General Psychology 106 $35,181
Educational Administration 101 $56,290

Learn more about the majors offered at University of San Diego along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Curious how schools stack up against USD? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.

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

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