Sample question
What happens if I'm off-track to graduate at the end of sophomore year? Walk me through exactly who contacts me and what the support process looks like.
University of California-San Diego is a public institution in California. This report benchmarks University of California-San Diego's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.
Data note: The U.S. Department of Education's IPEDS database did not include every reported figure for University of California-San Diego between 2020 and 2024. 3 indicators have IPEDS data missing for one or more years 2020–2024 (including 1 with no year reported at all) and 1 inspection flag could not be evaluated for lack of data — affected indicators are tagged below; missing years are shown as gaps in trend charts rather than estimated.
University of California-San Diego Inspection Flags
Student Outcomes
Financial Health
Value for Your Money
Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.
Look Beyond the Brochure. Then Ask Your College.
Make sure your campus visit is worth it.
Estimated campus visit cost
$500+
flights, hotel, meals, time off work
Estimated four-year college cost
$100K+
tuition, room and board, fees
Estimated spirit shop haul on a visit day
$75+
hoodies, mugs, and the "we're-here!" photo op
Every campus tour is a sales pitch. Colleges will show you the beautiful quad and the smiling Dean — not what doesn't flatter them. The right questions can reveal information that significantly impacts your experience.
A $100,000 decision deserves better questions.
The 12 questions that reveal what a campus tour won't.
- Know what to ask before you set foot on campus
- Get past the polished tour script
- Leave with real answers, not just a good feeling
Only {{price}} to help get you the information to protect a $100,000+ investment. Questions are the same for every college so families can compare answers; the data is tailored to University of California-San Diego, giving you context for each conversation.
A preview of your questions
Sample question
If you needed to cut 10% of your operating budget in the next two years, what would you protect and what would you cut first?
Sample question
Where do you see the college investing in things that directly affect the student experience — such as extracurricular activities, extra tutoring support, or career advising?
Section 1 of 3
Student Outcomes
How students at University of California-San Diego complete their degrees, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
Section 2 of 3
College Financial Health
How financially stable University of California-San Diego is, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
Section 3 of 3
Value for Your Money
How University of California-San Diego spends its budget and what families pay, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
Total Operating Spending
$8.30B
2024
Where every dollar was spent
Cost by household income
How Much Will This Cost for Your Income Level?
Net price is the average annual out-of-pocket cost for first-time, full-time undergraduate students — tuition + fees + room & board, minus the grants and scholarships the institution reports providing to students in each income bracket. Select your household income below to see the reported figure for that group.
Net Price by Household Income Bracket
Figures reported to the U.S. Department of Education via IPEDS for the 2023–24 academic year. Does not account for loans.
Avg Annual Net Price
$9,942
16th percentile nationally for this income bracket
For a family earning $48,001–$75,000, University of California-San Diego's average annual net price in 2024 was $9,942. Net price is the reported cost after grants and scholarships are applied; it does not account for loans.
Sticker Price
$37,014
Tuition $16,758 + R&B $18,970 + Books $1,286
Data Summary
University of California-San Diego — All Reported Indicators
Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for University of California-San Diego. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.
Student Outcomes
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four-Year Graduation Rate | 72.0% | +16.1% | 90th |
| Six-Year Graduation Rate | 88.0% | +2.3% | 94th |
| Full-Time Retention Rate | 94.0% | 0.0% | 91st |
| Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate | 82.0% | -2.4% | 92nd |
| Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap | 6.1pp | +32.5% | 38th |
| Pell Share of Cohort | 34.5% | +3.2% | 41st |
Financial Health
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue-to-Expense Ratio | 1.08× | not reported | 50th |
| Tuition Dependency Percentage | 9.3% | not reported | not reported |
| Total FTE Enrollment | 35,333 | +10.2% | 99th |
| Endowment Value | $1.56B | +74.0% | 95th |
| State Appropriations as % of Revenue | 6.4% | not reported | 8th |
| Net Assets (End of Year) | not reported | not reported | not reported |
Value for Money
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instructional Spending % | 13.8% | not reported | 4th |
| Student Support Spending % | 2.8% | not reported | 7th |
| Administrative Spending % | 3.8% | not reported | 2nd |
| Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio | 4.44× | +11.6% | 83rd |
| Average Net Price | $14,047 | -7.7% | 30th |
| Net Price: $0-30K Income | $7,525 | -23.4% | 18th |
| Net Price: $30K-48K Income | $8,155 | -27.0% | 18th |
| Net Price: $48-75K Income | $9,942 | -30.5% | 16th |
| Net Price: $75K-110K Income | $15,199 | -27.3% | 21st |
| Net Price: $110K+ Income | $28,785 | -1.2% | 70th |
Inspection Flags
| Flag | Section | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Retention Below 75% | Student Outcomes | Cleared |
| Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50% | Student Outcomes | Cleared |
| Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points | Student Outcomes | Cleared |
| Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0 | Financial Health | Cleared |
| Negative Change in Net Assets | Financial Health | Not Evaluated |
| Endowment Flat or Declining | Financial Health | Cleared |
| High Cost, Low Completion | Value for Money | Cleared |
| Low Instruction-to-Admin Ratio | Value for Money | Cleared |
| Rising Price, Falling Outcomes | Value for Money | Cleared |