University of California-San Diego

La Jolla, CA · Public · 34,948 undergrads (large, city) · website ↗

27% Hispanic undergrads
Test scores not considered
$80 application fee

What you'll actually pay

Average net price per year — tuition, fees, room & board minus grant and scholarship aid — for in-state students by household income.

Household income	Avg net price / year
Under $30,000	$7,525
$30,000 – $48,000	$8,155
$48,000 – $75,000	$9,942
$75,000 – $110,000	$15,199
Over $110,000	$28,785
All incomes (average)	$12,470

Sticker tuition and fees: $16,758 in-state, $50,958 out-of-state — before aid, from the same earlier College Scorecard release as the net prices above.

These are averages. For an estimate for your family, use University of California-San Diego's own net price calculator — every college that takes federal student aid must publish one.

Net price calculator ↗

Other costs of attendance, 2025–26

The college's own estimate for a full-time undergraduate for the year, before aid, from the October 2026 College Scorecard. It is a newer year than the tuition and net prices above, so don't add the two together.

Housing and meals, on campus	$19,632
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$19,525
Books and supplies	$1,363
Other expenses, on campus	$6,371
Other expenses, off campus	$7,652

Grants and loans for first-year students, 2022–23

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (6,530 of them) in 2022–23; 70% got some kind of aid, loans included. Each average is over the students who received that kind of aid, not over everyone. It is an older year than the 2025–26 costs above.

Type of aid	Students awarded	Average amount
Any grant or scholarshipFederal, state, local and the college's own	64%	$24,176
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	40%	$5,730
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	56%	$11,334
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	28%	$4,057

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release); full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates; public domain.

Admissions & outcomes

Acceptance rate: 27%
Average SAT: —
Median ACT: —
Students with Pell grants: 34%
Graduation rate (6yr): 86%
Freshman retention: 94%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $84,943
Median debt at graduation: $15,500
International undergrads: 3,986 (11.8%)

For comparison, the median across all 1,596 four-year colleges on this site: graduation rate 56%, earnings ten years after entering $54,869, debt at graduation $23,250.

Admission policy, test scores and teaching

SAT/ACT policy: Not considered
Application fee: $80
Students per faculty member: 19 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 88%
Open admission: No

What the college considers in admission decisions, fall 2023

How the college said it used each item when deciding on first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking applicants for fall 2023. For SAT and ACT scores, see the fall 2024 policy above.

High school GPA	Required
High school class rank	Not considered
High school record	Required
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Required
Recommendations	Not considered
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Not considered
English proficiency test (for applicable students)	Required
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Not considered
Work experience	Considered if submitted
Personal statement or essay	Required
Legacy status	Not considered

First-time applicants: 130,771
Admitted: 32,062
Enrolled: 7,005

Counts of first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students, including early decision and early action. The acceptance rate higher up this page comes from a different College Scorecard release, so it may not match these counts.

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release), fall 2023; open admission from IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 (revised); public domain.

Most popular fields of study

Share of bachelor's degrees awarded.

Biology & Life Sciences20%

Engineering12%

Social Sciences10%

Psychology9%

Computer Science7%

Business6%

Health & Nursing4%

Mathematics & Statistics3%

Communications & Media3%

Physics & Chemistry3%

Earnings and debt by field of study

Median annual earnings of graduates who received federal student aid and were working, not studying: one year after completing (graduates of 2020–21 and 2021–22) and four years after (2017–18 and 2018–19), measured in 2022 and 2023 and shown in 2024 dollars. Median debt is federal Direct and Grad PLUS loans borrowed at this college by 2022–23 and 2023–24 graduates; it leaves out Parent PLUS and private loans. “National” is the median for the same field and credential across all US colleges.

Bachelor's degrees (54)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences	832	$42,575	—national $66,697	$12,000
Cognitive Science	743	$46,650	$81,160national $81,496	$13,799
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	444	$69,142	$89,451national $86,176	$11,001
Computer Science	415	$109,047	$159,487national $107,009	$14,000
International/Globalization Studies	413	$52,280	$81,174national $59,972	$13,000
Psychology, General	380	$34,384	$51,679national $50,706	$11,512
Mathematics and Computer Science	358	$86,456	$137,218national $118,943	$14,500
Biology, General	353	$34,326	$64,437national $57,214	$13,852
Political Science and Government	353	$40,228	$67,713national $63,293	$12,000
Public Health	345	$42,151	$66,110national $58,808	$12,673
Economics	255	$56,525	$87,307national $82,686	$13,599
Communication and Media Studies	244	$38,629	$67,302national $56,359	$11,556
Computer and Information Sciences, General	239	$82,223	—national $92,374	$14,667
Mathematics	218	$54,763	$79,015national $69,562	$15,500
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	214	$37,755	$56,000national $50,523	$12,000
Computer Engineering	207	$104,513	$149,139national $109,015	$13,000
Neurobiology and Neurosciences	187	$35,938	$61,799national $62,451	$12,617
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology	183	$47,239	$72,491national $65,466	$15,500
Mechanical Engineering	180	$77,655	$104,229national $92,135	$14,000
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	177	$88,098	$118,150national $100,647	$15,648
Psychology, Other	159	$53,416	—national $50,748	$12,463
Chemistry	157	$55,576	$77,249national $65,120	$13,511
Sociology	153	$41,217	$55,534national $52,657	$12,000
Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology	146	$39,836	$52,701national $48,842	$15,000
Applied Mathematics	136	$43,458	$85,233national $91,532	$13,540
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	126	$59,527	$98,687national $93,451	$16,500
Research and Experimental Psychology	113	$40,342	$63,130national $55,695	$14,500
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology	102	$90,963	$123,320national $86,713	$18,145
Civil Engineering	96	$69,754	$91,745national $86,517	$17,500
Chemical Engineering	89	$70,446	$96,798national $98,158	$16,090
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering	88	$76,064	$100,173national $98,207	$15,000
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	83	$38,323	$69,061national $55,012	$13,992
Anthropology	83	$32,509	$56,982national $46,676	$13,000
History	78	$31,497	$61,745national $50,680	$14,440
Physics	69	$61,325	$95,018national $76,786	$11,407
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	68	$30,971	$41,389national $39,775	$14,644
Real Estate Development	65	$55,549	—national $106,061	$13,760
Fine and Studio Arts	65	$23,658	$48,506national $41,367	$14,741
Visual and Performing Arts, General	64	$32,584	$45,915national $41,688	$12,000
Microbiological Sciences and Immunology	57	$40,840	$64,428national $62,582	$11,855
Education, General	56	$31,163	—national $49,808	$11,700
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services	55	$31,391	$61,262national $48,568	$11,779
Urban Studies/Affairs	54	$49,555	$71,380national $62,532	$8,351
Statistics	48	—	$96,746national $92,425	—
English Language and Literature/Letters, Other	46	$27,048	$57,900national $46,634	$12,500
Engineering, Other	45	$64,415	$88,159national $93,989	$16,786
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies	32	$40,942	$53,319national $51,710	$17,103
English Language and Literature, General	29	$37,026	$56,097national $48,590	$13,954
Area Studies	25	$22,043	—national $56,625	—
Philosophy	25	$27,655	—national $54,455	$10,960
Biological/Biosystems Engineering	23	—	$111,677national $83,998	—
Music	22	$25,949	$58,071national $42,892	$17,000
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services	0	$29,640	$55,776national $49,984	—
Visual and Performing Arts, Other	—	—	$64,822national $47,629	$15,505

Master's degrees (23)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Computer Science	393	$160,898	$231,397national $145,571	$42,970
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	288	$97,051	—national $124,807	$62,155
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	190	$125,176	$169,987national $133,654	$33,236
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	142	$91,168	$127,935national $106,375	$34,167
Biology, General	93	$54,603	$87,940national $69,830	$20,500
International Relations and National Security Studies	87	$62,483	$101,102national $95,627	$51,183
Mechanical Engineering	83	$112,592	$128,129national $115,974	—
Computer Engineering	79	$157,175	$173,180national $136,736	—
Public Policy Analysis	67	$74,578	—national $93,020	$49,847
Civil Engineering	60	$86,550	$112,223national $98,323	$31,167
Public Health	60	$59,542	—national $82,751	$42,217
Chemistry	55	$69,663	—national $82,937	—
Education, General	54	$64,454	$73,566national $65,824	$22,790
Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology	53	$49,215	$66,412national $82,527	$49,310
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences	49	$62,077	—national $79,463	$44,759
Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration	34	$109,724	—national $129,214	—
Engineering, Other	33	$154,120	$158,915national $129,974	—
Chemical Engineering	21	$88,165	—national $115,468	—
Medical Clinical Sciences/Graduate Medical Studies	19	—	$132,783national $198,417	—
Computer and Information Sciences, General	18	$126,427	$201,287national $124,201	—
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	17	$40,283	$48,041national $49,978	—
Health and Medical Administrative Services	6	—	$145,693national $89,981	—
Business Administration, Management and Operations	0	—	$149,271national $103,485	—

Doctoral degrees (12)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Biology, General	48	$83,461	$129,900national $92,983	—
Chemistry	43	$88,202	$136,333national $115,386	—
Physics	33	—	$166,997national $130,153	—
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences	24	—	$100,332national $92,039	—
Education, General	19	$123,657	$131,358national $87,373	$46,625
Neurobiology and Neurosciences	16	—	$148,833national $96,176	—
Political Science and Government	12	—	$104,566national $90,908	—
Music	12	—	$68,693national $59,592	—
History	10	—	$79,871national $70,550	—
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	0	—	$130,000national $99,878	—
Medicine	—	$77,325	$118,330national $118,504	$117,905
Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration	—	$101,766	$165,543national $136,696	$131,789

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 105 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093
Phone: (858) 534-2230
Institutional accreditor: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission

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Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts) and IPEDS Fall Enrolment for international student counts. College Scorecard, October 2026 release: net price calculator link, mission flags and religious affiliation (2025–26), enrolment shares, test policy, SAT/ACT ranges and student-to-faculty ratio (fall 2024), cost-of-attendance components (2025–26), and earnings and debt by field of study. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 for the application fee and the IPEDS 2024 directory for the phone number. IPEDS Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release) for admission requirements and first-time applicants, admits and enrolments (fall 2023). IPEDS Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release) for grants and loans to full-time, first-time students. All are U.S. Department of Education data in the public domain. Verify current costs and requirements with the school.

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