What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$19,154 to $60,678 a year, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $82,026 a year. Average need-based aid package: $51,647.Aid and debt
31.9%
receive need-based grants
$28,838
average debt at graduation
1,830
students got merit aid
about 27% of undergraduates
$15,476
average merit award
Getting In
Admit rates
47.9%
admitted overall
76.4%
admitted Early Decision
47%
admitted Regular Decision
Early Decision
Early Decision applicants were admitted at nearly 2x the Regular Decision rate, and Early Decision is binding: you commit to attend if admitted.
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Some of that gap reflects who applies early (recruited athletes, legacy applicants and highly committed students concentrate in that pool), so it isn't proof that applying early would raise any one student's own odds.
Key dates
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 1330–1470 · 29% of the class submitted
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 29–33 · 9% of the class submitted
47% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What they value
- Very important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- GPA
- Personal essay
- Extracurriculars
- Special talent
- Character
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Important
- Class rank
- Recommendations
- Demonstrated interest
- Considered
- SAT/ACT scores
- First-gen status
- Legacy status
- Where you're from
- In-state residency
What this means for you
Santa Clara rates course rigor, your essay, and your activities as Very Important, and your recommendations as Important.
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Rigor means AP, IB, and dual enrollment carry real weight — make sure your mix of AP or IB courses is strong. The essay is weighted like your GPA. Depth in a few activities beats a long list. And recommendations matter here too — a recommender who knows you well helps.
Santa Clara rates demonstrated interest 'Important' — real weight in the decision.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section C7 (admissions factors)
Santa Clara just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-Santa Clara essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
42.1% of Santa Clara classes have fewer than 20 students.
42.1%
under 20 students
57.1%
20 to 49
0.8%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. Santa Clara CDS 2025–26, I-3.
11:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
51%
live on campus
Who attends
- White35.6%
- Asian22.2%
- Hispanic20.8%
- Multiracial9.3%
- Black3.1%
- Unknown / other1.9%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. Santa Clara CDS 2025–26, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
80.6% of Santa Clara students graduate in 4 years.
80.6%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2019
87.2%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2019
93.3%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
89.6% finish in 6 years, against 87.2% of all students.
Pell Grant students finish at about the same rate as everyone else.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Santa Clara.
A compact, walled, mission-centred campus in the middle of Santa Clara, which is to say the middle of Silicon Valley.
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San José's downtown is ten minutes away and San Francisco under an hour by train. The setting is suburban and quiet in a way the surrounding industry is not.
The City
Mid-size city
Santa Clara, CA
Best For
Notable alumni
Notable Alumni
Leon Panetta
Secretary of Defense, Director of the CIA and White House Chief of Staff. He took his degree here in 1960 and his law degree here in 1963, and the university's public policy institute is named for him.
Class of 1960
Khaled Hosseini
Wrote The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, which have sold tens of millions of copies. He graduated here in 1988 in biology before going to medical school and then writing full time.
Class of 1988
Steve Nash
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and one of the finest passers the league has had. He played here from 1992 and graduated in 1996 in sociology.
Class of 1996
Brandi Chastain
Scored the winning penalty in the 1999 Women's World Cup final, one of the most replayed moments in American sport. She played here and graduated in 1991, and later coached at the university.
Class of 1991
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
Traditions
Traditions
Mission Santa Clara de Asís
The 1777 mission church at the centre of campus, rebuilt several times, with the adjoining gardens that give the university its shape and its oldest continuous ritual.
Vespers
A candlelit service in the mission before winter finals, one of the fixed points of the Jesuit calendar here.
The Ruff Riders
The student section for Bronco basketball, small and close to the floor at the Leavey Center.
Jesuit service commitment
Community-based learning is woven into the curriculum rather than offered alongside it, which is why the university's admissions grid has historically rated volunteer work as highly as it does.
Weekend escapes from Santa Clara
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Santa Clara
San Francisco
About an hour by CaltrainReachable without a car from the station beside campus, which is why students treat it as a regular weekend rather than a trip.
Santa Cruz and the coast
About 45 minutesOver the mountains to the boardwalk, the surf and the redwoods on the way.
Big Basin and the Santa Cruz Mountains
About an hourOld-growth redwoods and long ridge trails, close enough for an afternoon.
Napa and Sonoma
About two hoursNorth past San Francisco into wine country, the standard longer weekend.
Getting there and game days
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
San José Mineta International Airport (SJC)
About 10 minutes from campus
For international flights: San Francisco International (SFO) — about 40 minutes by car.
Pro sports nearby
- San Francisco 49ers NFL
- San Jose Sharks NHL
- San Jose Earthquakes MLS
- Golden State Warriors NBA
Internships and jobs nearby
Career Proximity
The campus sits inside Silicon Valley, so technology internships are a commute rather than a relocation.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Apple
- Nvidia
- Intel
- Cisco
Santa Clara and San José, with San Francisco about an hour north by train
Who thrives here
Who Thrives Here
Santa Clara admits 47.9% overall — but 76.4% of early decision applicants were admitted, one of the widest early advantages in this catalog, and a fact worth deciding around rather than discovering afterwards. Early decision is binding, so it is only the right move for a family who has already decided this is the first choice and has run the net price calculator. It is small: 6,695 undergraduates, an 11:1 student-faculty ratio, 42.1% of sections under 20 and 99.2% under 50, so a student is rarely anonymous but should not expect a seminar every term. The finishing rate is the standout — 80.6% graduate in four years, and 87.2% within six, so the four-year degree is the norm here rather than the exception, which materially changes what four years actually costs. The trade-off is price: aid covers 77.2% of demonstrated need and graduates who borrow leave owing about $28,838, which is real debt to weigh against finishing on time. 51.0% live in university housing on a 106-acre campus built around the original mission, and the location does the rest — the technology industry is not somewhere students travel to for an internship, it is the surrounding town.