How has University of California-Santa Cruz changed over time?
Multi-year trends in admissions, enrollment, test scores, and cost. Every chart is labeled with its data source and the years it covers — no smoothing, no mixing sources.
Admission rate
Admission rate rose from 64% (2010) to 66% (2024).
Applicants and students admitted
Applicants rose from 27,247 (2010) to 71,722 (2024).
Enrollment
Total enrollment rose from 17,187 (2010) to 19,938 (2024).
SAT mid-50% range
SAT mid-50% range moved from 1060–1290 (2016) to 1160–1360 (2020).
- Score data describes enrolled freshmen, not all admitted students.
- Years before 2016 use the old 2400-point SAT and are not shown.
- Many schools became test-optional around 2020 — score changes partly reflect who chooses to submit.
Source: IPEDS (U.S. Dept. of Education) · 2016–2020
ACT mid-50% range
ACT mid-50% range moved from 21–27 (2006) to 25–33 (2020).
Cost
In-state tuition rose from $13,416 (2011) to $16,585 (2025).
See how similar schools have changed
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Data from IPEDS and the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education) and school Common Data Set filings; each chart names the source its series comes from. Most recent data year: 2025. Last updated October 19, 2026.