Quad
U. California-San Diego
San Diego State

Key differences on Outcomes

  1. 1

    U. California-San Diego grads earn $20K more ten years out than San Diego State's ($84,943 vs. $64,909)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs
  2. 2

    U. California-San Diego graduates 8 pts more of its students than San Diego State (90% vs. 82%)

    Graduation rate

Outcomes

Outcomes

Earnings and finishing

Median earnings, 10 yrs
U. California-San Diego$84.9K
San Diego State$64.9K
Graduation rate
U. California-San Diego90%
San Diego State82%
Retention rate
U. California-San Diego95%
San Diego State91%

Borrowing

Median debt
U. California-San Diego$15.5K
San Diego State$15K
Undergrads with a federal loan
U. California-San Diego21%
San Diego State23%
Median debt, Pell Grant recipients
U. California-San Diego$14.8K
San Diego State$12.5K

Eight-year outcomes

Credential within 4 years, all students
U. California-San Diego76%
San Diego State66%
Credential within 8 years, all students
U. California-San Diego89%
San Diego State83%
Enrolled at another college, 8 years on
U. California-San Diego3%
San Diego State11%

Graduation by group

Graduated in 6 years, Pell Grant recipients
U. California-San Diego82%
San Diego State72%
Graduated in 6 years, neither Pell nor subsidized loan
U. California-San Diego88%
San Diego State78%
Pell graduation gap
U. California-San Diego6 pts lower
San Diego State6 pts lower

Graduated in 6 years, by race and ethnicity

GroupU. California-San DiegoSan Diego State
White86%79%
Asian91%83%
Hispanic/Latino77%72%
Black82%69%
Two or more races87%76%
International88%68%

All outcome numbers in the table

Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;University of California-San Diego Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024;College Scorecard, 2023–24;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018;San Diego State University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)

Figures are the newest each college has published; years can differ between colleges. Each value's ⓘ shows its source and year. Why