University of San Diego
San Diego, CA
University of San Diego is a private, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, a large city, with 5,671 undergraduates. Business is its signature field: 40% of its bachelor's degrees, two and a half times its share across the colleges we cover. 84% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $86,522 ten years after starting.
University of San Diego admitted 9,359 of 17,468 applicants for the fall 2025 entering class (53.6%).
- Acceptance rate
- 53.6%
- Fall 2025 class
- Tuition and fees
- $59,486
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $30,365
- Average, students with aid
Every figure on this page is published by the college or a federal survey, compiled by GoodGoblin, and carries the source it came from. They describe the fall 2025 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.
What University of San Diego is known for
Measured by the 1,637 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Business
40.4%
of its bachelor's degrees: two and a half times the 17.7% share across the colleges we cover.
- Finance and Financial Management Services17510.7% of degrees$93,099+12% vs $83,343 nationally
- Business Administration, Management and Operations1629.9% of degrees$79,678+17% vs $68,257 nationally
- Real Estate1257.6% of degrees$78,044−8% vs $84,821 nationally
- Psychology1116.8% of degrees$74,178+46% vs $50,706 nationally
- Marketing935.7% of degrees$83,562+21% vs $69,303 nationally
- Communication and Media Studies925.6% of degrees$68,913+22% vs $56,359 nationally
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), field-of-study data. Degrees are bachelor's degrees awarded in 2022–23. Earnings are the median for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates, in 2024 dollars, working and not enrolled, four years after graduating. Shares across the colleges we cover count every bachelor's degree at the colleges with a page here.
The place
Where it is, how big it is, and how students live.
Setting
Large city
San Diego, CA
Undergraduates
5,671
Fall 2024
Type
Private, nonprofit
Doctoral university, high research activity
Living on campus
A quarter to half
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
13 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
6%
of undergraduates, fall 2024
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), including the Carnegie Classification and the federal locale code it publishes.
What stands out at University of San Diego
Two things University of San Diego published, ranked by how much each could change what you actually do, not by how impressive it looks. Every one describes a class that has already enrolled.
University of San Diego reports that test scores are not considered at all.
That is the school’s own answer on the form it fills in every year. A score you send is not read as part of the decision here.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Families paid $30,365 on average after aid.
Averaged across students who received federal aid: the price after grants and scholarships, not the sticker price.
Source: the College Scorecard
Every figure, in full
The same measured fields on every one of these pages. Nothing is filled in where the school published nothing.
Acceptance rate
53.6%
9,359 admitted of 17,468 applicants
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Average GPA of admitted students
4.02
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Where do you actually stand at University of San Diego?
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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What University of San Diego costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $59,486, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $78,720. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $30,365 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$59,486
2024–25 school year
Full cost of attendance
$78,720
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$30,365
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $78,720 full cost.
- Under $30k$15,586Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$17,441Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$19,557Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$27,012Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$46,989Typical public university: $22,475
Source: the federal College Scorecard. Tuition and cost of attendance are for the 2024–25 school year; colleges usually raise them each year. What students paid is the average net price for first-year students who received federal financial aid. Typical public university: the median across the 338 public universities on GoodGoblin, for in-state students, compiled by GoodGoblin from the same federal data.
Where it leads
Who finishes, who stays, and what they earn and owe afterwards.
Finish within six years
84%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
91%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$86,522
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$22,940
Our colleges' median: $23,725
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education). Six-year completion describes students who started in fall 2018; second-year return describes students who started in fall 2023; earnings describe students who started in 2009–10 and 2010–11, measured in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 dollars; debt describes federal loans of students who graduated in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Medians are across the 1,034 colleges with a page here.
What University of San Diego says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Course rigorvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- GPAvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Essayimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Recommendationsimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Class rankimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Not considered
- Test scores
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Legacy
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Essays on this application
4 essay prompts on the application: you would write 2.
Published deadlines
Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in California
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
- Fresno Pacific University57.5%
- University of La Verne48.5%
- Loyola Marymount University48.2%
- Santa Clara University47.9%
Colleges with a similar acceptance rate
Closest acceptance rates anywhere in the country.
The GoodGoblin College Data Report: five findings counted across 1,034 colleges ›
Build the list this school belongs on.
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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