A place like no other
A global research university, UC Santa Cruz is part of the world’s most celebrated system of public higher education, and stands among the leading institutions of higher learning.
The campus rests among redwood forests on former ranchlands above the city of Santa Cruz and the Pacific Ocean—both of which provide opportunities for study, research, and recreation.
We invite you to find your voice at UC Santa Cruz—which is not just a place, but a community of learning that spans the globe.
History
UC Santa Cruz began in 1965 as an unconventional place that was unlike other educational institutions, a place where innovation—no matter how messy—was part of the campus’s DNA. In the words of then-UC President Clark Kerr, it was “the most significant educational experiment in the history of the University of California.”