UC Santa Cruz acceptance rate by major
UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) admitted 72.5% of its 66,393 first-year applicants for fall 2025, against 59.9% of 33,137 in fall 2012. Below is the rate in every major and discipline UC reports for UC Santa Cruz, every fall since 2012, from the University of California’s own table.
Applying to UC Santa Cruz? Book a free call with a Specialist to talk through which major to list.
UC Santa Cruz by the numbers, fall 2025
Admit rate
72.5%
48,122 of 66,393
Applicants
66,393
Every residency
Enrolled
4,597
Of 48,122 admitted
Admitted GPA, middle half
3.83 to 4.20
UC weighted, capped
From California high schools alone, 51,628 applied and 37,004 were admitted for fall 2025 (71.7%), by UC’s count of admissions by source school.
UC Santa Cruz acceptance rate by major, fall 2025
Hardest first. UC reports first-year applicants by the broad discipline of the major they listed, not by single major. Each link has that discipline’s rate in every fall UC printed.
| Discipline | Applied | Admitted | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education | 536 | 348 | 64.9% |
| Business | 6,725 | 4,465 | 66.4% |
| Social Sciences | 10,831 | 7,308 | 67.5% |
| Arts & Humanities | 5,945 | 4,022 | 67.7% |
| Undeclared | 9,848 | 6,727 | 68.3% |
| Other/Interdisciplinary | 3,822 | 2,939 | 76.9% |
| Life Sciences | 14,258 | 10,997 | 77.1% |
| Engineering | 5,134 | 3,961 | 77.2% |
| Computer Science | 5,952 | 4,725 | 79.4% |
| Physical Sciences/Math | 3,148 | 2,506 | 79.6% |
| Other Health ScienceNo page: UC printed 2 falls. | Not printed | ||
| Public AdminNo page: UC printed 11 falls, 192 applicants in fall 2025. | 192 | 124 | 64.6% |
A discipline has its own page when UC printed both its applicants and its admits in at least 3 falls, including fall 2025, with at least 250 applicants in fall 2025.
How UC Santa Cruz admits: does the major matter?
Neither UC's discipline table nor any page from UC Santa Cruz that we have on file says whether UC Santa Cruz weighs the intended major in first-year review, so this page does not say either. Ask UC Santa Cruz's admissions office before reading this rate as the odds for one major.
Every UC campus reads the same UC application, and the counts on this page include applicants from California, other states and other countries together, because that is how UC publishes this table.
UC Santa Cruz acceptance rate every fall since 2012
| Fall | Applied | Admitted | Admit rate | Admitted GPA, middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 66,393 | 48,122 | 72.5% | 3.83 to 4.20 |
| 2024 | 71,722 | 47,186 | 65.8% | 3.86 to 4.21 |
| 2023 | 68,845 | 43,054 | 62.5% | 3.86 to 4.22 |
| 2022 | 66,014 | 30,926 | 46.8% | 3.94 to 4.25 |
| 2021 | 61,805 | 36,252 | 58.7% | 3.81 to 4.20 |
| 2020 | 55,068 | 35,591 | 64.6% | 3.71 to 4.16 |
| 2019 | 55,865 | 28,628 | 51.2% | 3.76 to 4.16 |
| 2018 | 56,625 | 26,803 | 47.3% | 3.76 to 4.16 |
| 2017 | 52,969 | 26,983 | 50.9% | 3.70 to 4.13 |
| 2016 | 49,180 | 28,451 | 57.9% | 3.65 to 4.09 |
| 2015 | 45,532 | 22,897 | 50.3% | 3.70 to 4.10 |
| 2014 | 40,727 | 22,695 | 55.7% | 3.64 to 4.08 |
| 2013 | 38,636 | 19,829 | 51.3% | 3.65 to 4.08 |
| 2012 | 33,137 | 19,851 | 59.9% | 3.58 to 4.03 |
High schools that send the most students to UC Santa Cruz
Admits to UC Santa Cruz by California high school, fall 2023 to 2025, from UC’s admissions by source school.
| High school | Applied | Admitted | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dougherty Valley High School, San Ramon | 1,488 | 1,004 | 67.5% |
| Berkeley High School, Berkeley | 1,073 | 835 | 77.8% |
| Lowell High School, San Francisco | 1,056 | 779 | 73.8% |
| Dublin High School, Dublin | 1,179 | 763 | 64.7% |
| American High School, Fremont | 932 | 664 | 71.2% |
| Irvington High School, Fremont | 964 | 664 | 68.9% |
| Mission San Jose High School, Fremont | 989 | 649 | 65.6% |
| Monta Vista High School, Cupertino | 944 | 648 | 68.6% |
| Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego | 859 | 620 | 72.2% |
| Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton | 898 | 603 | 67.1% |
| Cupertino High School, Cupertino | 826 | 590 | 71.4% |
| Lynbrook High School, San Jose | 855 | 580 | 67.8% |
UC Santa Cruz admissions questions
- What is the UC Santa Cruz acceptance rate?
- UC Santa Cruz admitted 48,122 of 66,393 first-year applicants for fall 2025, 72.5%, counting every applicant in state and out.
- Which major is hardest to get into at UC Santa Cruz?
- Of the disciplines with a page here, Education had the lowest admit rate in fall 2025 (64.9%, 348 of 536) and Physical Sciences/Math the highest (79.6%).
- Does UC Santa Cruz admit by major?
- Neither UC's discipline table nor any page from UC Santa Cruz that we have on file says whether UC Santa Cruz weighs the intended major in first-year review, so this page does not say either. Ask UC Santa Cruz's admissions office before reading this rate as the odds for one major.
More on UC Santa Cruz and the UC
- How to get into UC Santa Cruz: GPAs, test scores and activities of admits
- UC acceptance rates for every California high school
- UC acceptance rates by major at every campus
Other campuses: UC Berkeley · UCLA · UC San Diego · UC Santa Barbara · UC Irvine · UC Davis · UC Riverside · UC Merced
Choosing a major for the UC Santa Cruz application?
A Specialist can read your student’s file against these numbers and talk through which major and campus fit it.
Sources: University of California Information Center, Freshman admission by discipline, fall 2012 to 2025; high school counts from University of California Information Center, Admissions by source school. 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.