Campus Description — UC Santa Cruz

UC Santa Cruz students, faculty and researchers are working together to make a world of difference Within our extraordinary educational community, students participate in the creation of new knowledge, new technologies, and new works of human expression. From helping teachers improve their skills, to building more efficient solar cells, to working to save endangered sea turtles, our focus is on improving our planet and the lives of all its inhabitants.

Academic Highlights

The academic programs at UC Santa Cruz are challenging and rigorous, and many of them — such as bioinformatics — are newer fields that focus on interdisciplinary thinking. At UC Santa Cruz, undergraduates conduct and publish research, working closely with faculty on innovative projects.

Undergraduates are able to choose from 62 majors, 35 minors and 50 concentrations in the arts, engineering, humanities, physical and biological sciences, and social sciences.

In fall 2007, UC Santa Cruz offered a new major in Bioengineering, which focuses on the applications of engineering to medicine and the biological sciences. Graduates of the program will be prepared to work as engineers solving problems in the biomedical and biomolecular domains and to pursue advanced degrees in engineering, medicine or science. One of UC Santa Cruz's newest majors is computer science: computer game design. The first of its kind in the UC system, the major features a deep immersion in computer science with exposure to computer engineering, digital media, art, music and the narrative elements of game design. Seniors work in teams during an intensive yearlong game design studio, with a complex game as the outcome.

Another of UC Santa Cruz's newer programs is the health sciences major. While satisfying the admission requirements for most U.S. medical schools, this degree program requires elective courses related to human health, proficiency in a foreign language, a course in conversational Spanish for health care workers and participation in a formal internship/community service program.

In addition to their academic work on campus, many students take part in fieldwork and exchange programs. Among all UC campuses, UC Santa Cruz has the highest percentage of upper-division students participating in UC's Education Abroad Program averaged over the last five years.

UC Santa Cruz faculty are leaders in their fields and have won numerous national and international awards. For example, biomolecular engineering professor David Haussler won the World Technology Award and Carnegie Mellon University's prestigious Dickson Prize in 2005. In 2007, Harry Noller, Sinsheimer Professor of Molecular Biology, received the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, the most distinguished award in biomedical research in Germany. Also, Patricia Zavella, professor of Latin American and Latino Studies, was named one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in Hispanic Business magazine in 2002.

Campus Life

All undergraduate students, whether they live on or off campus, are affiliated with one of 10 residential colleges at UC Santa Cruz. Each college provides academic support and sponsors events that enhance the intellectual and social life of the campus, in addition to housing students in small-scale residential communities.

Every college community includes students with diverse backgrounds and academic goals. College affiliation is independent of choice of major, and assignments are based upon space availability.

More than 100 student organizations on campus—from ethnic and cultural groups, to hobby clubs, to fraternities and sororities—cover a wide range of interests.

In addition to 14 men's and women's NCAA intercollegiate teams, UC Santa Cruz offers a wide variety of athletic clubs and intramural leagues, plus a busy recreational program.

In fact, in its September 2003 issue, Outside magazine ranked UC Santa Cruz first out of 40 colleges "that turn out smart grads with top-notch academic credentials, a healthy environmental ethos, and an A-plus sense of adventure."

The metropolitan centers of the San Francisco Bay Area are easily accessible. Berkeley and San Francisco are less than two hours away; San Jose and Silicon Valley are within an hour's drive. Heading south, Monterey and Carmel are less than an hour away, and Big Sur is within two hours' drive.