UC Santa Cruz acceptance rate and admissions statistics
UC Santa Cruz admitted 48,274 of 66,374 first-year applicants in its 2025-26 Common Data Set, an official acceptance rate of 72.7%. Every number below comes from the college’s own Common Data Set, each year linked to its document; a figure the college leaves blank says “Not published”, and the notes at the foot of the page say where a total is the sum of rows the college printed.
What did admitted applicants have? How to get into UC Santa Cruz counts the grades, scores and activities they posted.
UC Santa Cruz acceptance rate by year
| CDS year | Applied | Admitted | Acceptance rate | Enrolled | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 66,374 | 48,274 | 72.7% | 4,596 | 9.5% |
| 2024-25 | 71,696 | 47,012 | 65.6% | 4,381 | 9.3% |
| 2023-24 | 68,750 | 42,130 | 61.3% | 4,379 | 10.4% |
Acceptance rate is admitted divided by applied; yield is enrolled divided by admitted. Both are computed by Aristo Scholars from the two counts printed beside them.
Early decision at UC Santa Cruz
Early decision counts: Not published. UC Santa Cruz’s Common Data Set prints no early decision applicant or admit counts (section C21) for any year shown.
UC Santa Cruz waitlist
UC Santa Cruz SAT and ACT scores
SAT and ACT ranges: Not published. UC Santa Cruz’s Common Data Set leaves section C9 blank for every year shown.
What UC Santa Cruz says matters in admission
In section C7 each college rates its own admission factors as Very Important, Important, Considered or Not Considered. These are the factors UC Santa Cruz rated in the top two tiers.
- 2025-26
- Very important: Rigor of secondary school record, Academic GPA, Application essay, State residency
- Important: Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Character/personal qualities, First generation, Geographical residence
- 2024-25
- Very important: Rigor of secondary school record, Academic GPA, Application essay, State residency
- Important: Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Character/personal qualities, First generation, Geographical residence
- 2023-24
- Very important: Rigor of secondary school record, Academic GPA, Application essay, State residency
- Important: Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Character/personal qualities, First generation, Geographical residence
UC Santa Cruz testing policy for students applying in 2026-27
Test-free: UC Santa Cruz does not use ACT/SAT scores in its review and selection process (UC system: scores are not considered for admission or scholarships).
From UC Santa Cruz’s admissions site, read 2026-11-05. Policies change; the college’s page is the authority.
How these numbers were read
C9 is blank in every year because UC campuses do not consider test scores, and there is no early decision. The 2024-25 enrolled count is the sum of the gender rows.
UC Santa Cruz acceptance rate questions
- What is the UC Santa Cruz acceptance rate?
- UC Santa Cruz's Common Data Set for 2025-26 reports 66,374 first-year applicants and 48,274 admitted, an acceptance rate of 72.7%. It was 65.6% in 2024-25 and 61.3% in 2023-24.
- What SAT scores do UC Santa Cruz students have?
- UC Santa Cruz's Common Data Set publishes no SAT ranges for these years. Its current testing policy is below.
- How many students get off the UC Santa Cruz waitlist?
- In 2025-26, UC Santa Cruz offered 9,881 applicants a place on the waitlist; 6,444 accepted one, and 2,648 were admitted from it.
- Does UC Santa Cruz require the SAT or ACT for students applying in 2026-27?
- Test-free: UC Santa Cruz does not use ACT/SAT scores in its review and selection process (UC system: scores are not considered for admission or scholarships).
Applying to UC Santa Cruz?
An acceptance rate describes the whole pool, not one student. A Specialist can read your student’s file against what UC Santa Cruz says it weighs.
Source: UC Santa Cruz Common Data Set, sections C1, C2, C7, C9 and C21, each year linked above, read 2026-11-05. Aristo Scholars is not affiliated with UC Santa Cruz. All official acceptance rates