University of
California-Santa Barbara
Public Research University in Santa Barbara, CA. Six-year graduation rate 83%. Median 10-year earnings $74,915.
A decade after enrolling, the median University of California-Santa Barbara student earns $74,915 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Completion is a strength: 83% of students finish within six years. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $13,993. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 3.1% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.19 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 83% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
At 33%, the acceptance rate makes University of California-Santa Barbara a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. With 110,259 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. A 14% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of California-Santa Barbara →Academics
83% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. First-year retention of 93% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The part-time picture is harder: 41% return, against 93% full-time. The student-faculty ratio is 17:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major. This is a public four-year university, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 23,205 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $17,658 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $9,231 while those at $110k+ pay $31,863. Grant aid reaches 57% of students at an average of $20,405. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 18% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 5,014 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $9,231 |
| $30–48k | $9,992 |
| $48–75k | $12,588 |
| $75–110k | $17,136 |
| $110k+ | $31,863 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,208 of these 23,205 students, totalling $21,227,348 — an average of $5,045 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Santa Barbara County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)