UC Santa Cruz vs U of A

Nestled in the vibrant city of Tucson, the University of Arizona (UA) stands tall as a public research university, while the University of California-Santa Cruz (UCSC) thrives in the coastal town of Santa Cruz, offering a distinct educational experience. With acceptance rates of 84% and 61%, respectively, both universities welcome a diverse student body. UA boasts a larger student population, with over 40,000 undergraduates, while UCSC fosters a more intimate learning environment with approximately 18,000 undergraduates. Explore the comparison table to delve into further details about these institutions, including popular majors, graduation rates, and additional factors that may influence your academic journey.

	University of Arizona	University of California-Santa Cruz
Overview
Location	Tucson, Arizona	Santa Cruz, California
Campus setting	City: Large	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Quarter
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	84.0%	89.0%
Common app member	Yes	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	87.3%	58.6%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $85	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $120
SAT range	1120 - 1370	N/A
ACT range	21 - 29	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	13.0%
Students submitting ACT score	19.0%
Total number of applicants	48,065	61,695
Total number of admissions given out	41,946	36,177
Admitted students who chose to enroll	8,436	4,187
Yield rate	20.1%	11.6%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $30,136 Out of state: $54,658	In state: $36,107 Out of state: $65,861
Average net price	$17,242	$19,615
Tuition	In state: $11,299 Out of state: $35,821	In state: $11,442 Out of state: $41,196
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $8,400 Meal plan: $5,050	$17,429
Available payment plans	Guaranteed tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	92.0% Average amount $13,790	57.0% Average amount $19,199
Students receiving federal student loan	24.0% Average amount $4,845	20.0% Average amount $4,717
Students taking out private loans	3.0% Average amount $20,814	9.0% Average amount $3,115

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	37,434 Men 44.3% Women 55.7%	17,864 Men 52.2% Women 47.8%
Graduate students	10,840 Men 44.5% Women 55.5%	1,977 Men 53.4% Women 46.6%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	48.8%	5.7%
International students	6.5%	8.0%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	7,036	9,300
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Arizona California Washington Illinois Colorado	California Washington Colorado Oregon Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Business Engineering Education Biological and Biomedical Sciences	Social Sciences Physical Science Engineering Biological and Biomedical Sciences Computer and Information Science
Students to faculty ratio	17:1	24:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	64.3%	78.1%
Dropout rate	14.3%	15.6%
Transferred out	19.6%	5.1%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Physics (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $88,673 Year 2: $123,527 Year 3: $127,192 Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $110,426 Year 2: $117,473 Year 3: $122,962 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $110,630 Year 2: $103,746 Year 3: $104,908 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $100,116 Year 2: $83,388 Year 3: $98,461 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $91,677 Year 2: $92,743 Year 3: $98,271 Chemistry (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $84,653 Year 3: $96,308 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $89,806 Year 2: $75,518 Year 3: $89,884 Mining and Mineral Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $76,657 Year 2: $73,035 Year 3: $87,557 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $72,627 Year 2: $79,199 Year 3: $86,387 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $77,284 Year 2: $74,953 Year 3: $83,742	Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $75,207 Year 2: $79,150 Year 3: $93,848 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $63,040 Year 2: $63,530 Year 3: $85,557 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $66,378 Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $82,012 Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $54,725 Year 2: $60,185 Year 3: $70,114 Biomedical/Medical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $53,515 Year 2: $48,823 Year 3: $68,276 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,252 Year 2: $31,941 Year 3: $65,929 Economics (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $61,516 Year 3: $62,051 Business/Managerial Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,826 Year 2: $51,607 Year 3: $61,441 Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $53,511 Year 2: $54,894 Year 3: $57,162 Chemistry (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,243 Year 2: $36,938 Year 3: $54,748

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UC Santa Cruz vs U of A

University of Arizona

University of California-Santa Cruz

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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