UC Santa Barbara acceptance rate by major
UC Santa Barbara engineering acceptance rate
UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) admitted 2,694 of 12,679 first-year engineering applicants for fall 2025, or 21.2%. That is 17.0 percentage points below the campus as a whole (38.2%), so the campus overall admitted 1.8 times the share.
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UC Santa Barbara engineering, fall 2025
Admit rate
21.2%
Campus overall 38.2%
Applicants
12,679
Every residency
Admitted
2,694
338 enrolled
Admitted GPA, middle half
4.21 to 4.30
UC weighted, capped
How engineering compares with UC Santa Barbara overall
It was the lowest admit rate of the 9 disciplines with a page at UC Santa Barbara that fall. In fall 2012, the first fall UC printed for this discipline here, 5,009 applied and 1,760 were admitted (35.1%). By fall 2025 applicants numbered 12,679. Across the 14 falls UC printed, the rate was lowest in fall 2023 (18.0%) and highest in fall 2012 (35.1%).
| Fall | Applied | Admitted | Admit rate | Whole campus | Admitted GPA, middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 12,679 | 2,694 | 21.2% | 38.2% | 4.21 to 4.30 |
| 2024 | 11,873 | 2,445 | 20.6% | 33.0% | 4.20 to 4.30 |
| 2023 | 10,685 | 1,919 | 18.0% | 27.8% | 4.20 to 4.30 |
| 2022 | 9,856 | 1,936 | 19.6% | 25.8% | 4.21 to 4.33 |
| 2021 | 9,390 | 2,023 | 21.5% | 29.2% | 4.20 to 4.33 |
| 2020 | 7,627 | 2,145 | 28.1% | 36.7% | 4.12 to 4.30 |
| 2019 | 8,755 | 1,720 | 19.6% | 29.6% | 4.16 to 4.30 |
| 2018 | 9,076 | 1,813 | 20.0% | 32.2% | 4.14 to 4.30 |
| 2017 | 9,214 | 1,879 | 20.4% | 32.8% | 4.09 to 4.30 |
| 2016 | 9,055 | 1,637 | 18.1% | 35.8% | 4.07 to 4.30 |
| 2015 | 8,619 | 1,779 | 20.6% | 32.6% | 4.12 to 4.30 |
| 2014 | 8,183 | 1,829 | 22.4% | 36.3% | 4.08 to 4.30 |
| 2013 | 6,107 | 1,851 | 30.3% | 39.7% | 4.07 to 4.30 |
| 2012 | 5,009 | 1,760 | 35.1% | 44.4% | 4.00 to 4.27 |
Only the falls in which UC printed both applicants and admits for Engineering at UC Santa Barbara are shown (14 of 14). The whole-campus column is every first-year applicant to UC Santa Barbara that fall.
Engineering at other UC campuses, fall 2025
| Campus | Applied | Admitted | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| UC Santa Barbara (this page) | 12,679 | 2,694 | 21.2% |
| UCLA | 23,911 | 1,591 | 6.7% |
| UC Berkeley | 25,025 | 1,788 | 7.1% |
| UC San Diego | 20,205 | 3,938 | 19.5% |
| UC Irvine | 20,276 | 5,387 | 26.6% |
| UC Davis | 17,866 | 6,935 | 38.8% |
| UC Santa Cruz | 5,134 | 3,961 | 77.2% |
| UC Riverside | 11,480 | 9,615 | 83.8% |
| UC Merced | 11,565 | 11,206 | 96.9% |
Does UC Santa Barbara admit by major?
Neither UC's discipline table nor any page from UC Santa Barbara that we have on file says whether UC Santa Barbara weighs the intended major in first-year review, so this page does not say either. Ask UC Santa Barbara's admissions office before reading this rate as the odds for one major.
UC counts an applicant under the broad discipline of the major they listed. These counts include applicants from California, other states and other countries together, so a California student’s own rate can differ.
UC Santa Barbara engineering acceptance rate: questions
- What is the UC Santa Barbara engineering acceptance rate?
- In fall 2025, UC Santa Barbara admitted 2,694 of 12,679 first-year engineering applicants, 21.2%, by UC's own count of every applicant in state and out.
- Is engineering harder to get into than UC Santa Barbara overall?
- In fall 2025 its rate was 17.0 percentage points below the campus as a whole (38.2%), so the campus overall admitted 1.8 times the share. It was the lowest admit rate of the 9 disciplines with a page at UC Santa Barbara that fall.
- Does UC Santa Barbara admit by major?
- Neither UC's discipline table nor any page from UC Santa Barbara that we have on file says whether UC Santa Barbara weighs the intended major in first-year review, so this page does not say either. Ask UC Santa Barbara's admissions office before reading this rate as the odds for one major.
- What GPA do UC Santa Barbara engineering admits have?
- The middle half of admitted engineering applicants had a UC weighted, capped GPA of 4.21 to 4.30 in fall 2025, against 4.09 to 4.28 for all of UC Santa Barbara. The range describes who was admitted; it is not a cutoff.
More on UC Santa Barbara
- UC Santa Barbara acceptance rate by major, every discipline
- How to get into UC Santa Barbara: GPAs, test scores and activities of admits
- UC acceptance rates by major at every campus
- UC acceptance rates for every California high school
Other majors at UC Santa Barbara: Arts & Humanities · Business · Computer Science · Life Sciences · Other/Interdisciplinary · Physical Sciences/Math · Social Sciences · Undeclared
Weighing engineering at UC Santa Barbara?
A Specialist can read your student’s file against these numbers and talk through which major and campus fit it.
Source: University of California Information Center, Freshman admission by discipline, fall 2012 to 2025. UC leaves a number blank when it is too small to print, and this page never fills one in. GPAs are UC’s weighted, capped GPA. Aristo Scholars is not affiliated with the University of California.