For the second consecutive year, UC Santa Cruz has ranked among the top five universities for social mobility, according to the latest rankings from U.S. News and World Report.
The ranking (No. 4) speaks to the campus’s success in offering a world-class education to low income and first-generation students. U.S. News and World Report measures how well U.S. universities graduated students who received federal Pell Grants, which are typically awarded to students who come from households that earn less than $50,000 annually.
“While it’s our values—not rankings—that guide our efforts, we do take pride in again having our success in supporting social mobility recognized,” Chancellor Cynthia Larive said. “This is a ranking that reflects the hard work of students to attain their degree.”
UC Santa Cruz is dedicated to providing access to a high quality education to students from all backgrounds and giving them the tools and support to succeed in their transformative college journey. Fall quarter instruction begins Oct. 1, and UC Santa Cruz will educate more than 5,000 students from low-income backgrounds.
The University of California is an equalizer for students from low-income families. They go on to earn as much as students who came from middle-income families, and their earnings double by a decade after graduation.
The U.S. News and World Report rankings also placed UC Santa Cruz in the top 15 universities based on ethnic diversity. The diversity index for UC Santa Cruz was .72—with values closer to 1.0 meaning a student is more likely to run into students from a different ethnic group. In fall 2019, 34 percent of the undergraduate class identified as Asian, 25 percent was Hispanic/Latino, 4 percent was African American, and .5 percent was American Indian.
On a new list, UC Santa Cruz is among the universities where students incur the least amount of debt as they work toward earning a degree.
UC Santa Cruz again ranked among the top public universities (No. 40) and the best national universities (No. 97). The US News and World Report looks at a variety of factors in its rankings, including retention and graduation rates, social mobility, faculty resources, and more.
This year, U.S. News and World Report ranked UC Santa Cruz:
- No. 4—Social Mobility - National Universities
- No 40—Top Public Schools - National Universities
- No. 52—Best Undergraduate Computer Science
- No. 61—Undergraduate Teaching - National Universities
- No. 63—Best Colleges for Veterans - National Universities
- No. 90—Best Undergraduate Engineering - Doctorate
- No. 97—National Universities
