Achievements, Facts, and Figures
National rankings
#1
in the nation for racial and gender diversity in leadership
2022 Women’s Power Gap Initiative
Top 15
among Public universities in the nation for “making an impact”
Princeton Review, 2024
#12
national public universities for excellence in undergraduate teaching
U.S. News and World Report, 2025
Honor Roll
Green College Honor Roll
Princeton Review, 2023
#18
national public universities with the greatest social mobility
U.S. News and World Report, 2025
#5
best game/simulation development programs in the nation
U.S. News and World Report, 2024
Associations and honors
UC Santa Cruz is just one of five members of the prestigious Association of American Universities also designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution.
Faculty:
1 Nobel Prize winner
Breakthrough Prize winners:
• 1 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
• 2 early-career New Horizons in Physics Prizes
• 17 recipients of 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
2 National Academy of Engineering members
1 National Academy of Medicine member
1 Royal Society of Chemistry member
6 National Academy of Inventors fellows
17 members of the National Academy of Sciences
6 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers fellows
30 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
49 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
4 Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators
Student:
1 Rhodes Scholar
Alumni:
11 winners of 13 Pulitzer Prizes
7 MacArthur ‘genius’ Awards
Prestigious honors
UC Santa Cruz faculty, staff, students, and alumni drive pioneering research, service, and scholarship, earning top honors. These awards reflect their commitment to bold ideas, social and environmental justice, and transformative innovation.
These honors include:
Facts and figures
Enrollment, 2024–2025
Undergraduates: 17,366
Graduate Students: 1,888
Total: 19,254
Alumni
Total alumni: more than 160,000
Monterey Bay area alumni: 13,500
Undergraduate majors: 74
Graduate studies: 66 programs
Mascot
Locations
2,000-acre residential campus
Westside Research Park
Coastal Science Campus, located at the edge of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Silicon Valley Campus, extends the reach of UC Santa Cruz and is home to UCSC Extension
Excellence with impact (pdf)
Cost of attendance / Standard annual budgets
• Undergraduate students
• Graduate students
• Financial Aid and Scholarships
Campus annual report, budget, and statistics