Is UC San Diego a good company to work for?

UC San Diego has an overall rating of 4.1 out of 5, based on over 6,390 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 1% over the last 12 months. 84% of employees would recommend working at UC San Diego to a friend and 60% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about UC San Diego have been left by employees working as Undergraduate Teaching Assistant , UCSD and Math Tutor .

Does UC San Diego pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, UC San Diego employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.5 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at UC San Diego. This rating has decreased by 1% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at UC San Diego?

84% of UC San Diego employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated UC San Diego 4.0 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.0 for culture and values and 3.7 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at UC San Diego?

Research Assistant (193) , Postdoctoral Fellow (156) , Teaching Assistant (137) , Graduate Student Researcher (128) , Graduate Student (117) , Graduate Teaching Assistant (109) , Graduate Research Assistant (92) , PhD Student (85) , Postdoctoral Researcher (84) , Tutor (66) , Postdoctoral Scholar (64) , Administrative Assistant (60) , Student Worker (54) , PhD Graduate Student (52) , Student Assistant (52)

What are the pros of working at UC San Diego according to real employee reviews?

"Great Benefits and once your in super easy to move around internally" ((in 484 reviews)); "Working with some really great people who believe in the value of public education and cutting" ((in 305 reviews)); "Very Supportive and flexible hours!" ((in 203 reviews)); "It's a beautiful campus and on campus restaurants can be reached relatively quickly from the library." ((in 125 reviews)); "Great location and coworkers." ((in 104 reviews))

What are the cons of working at UC San Diego according to real employee reviews?

"Low pay (which is to be expected in education and especially at the university level)." ((in 384 reviews)); "Low salary; very bureaucratic; lots of egos" ((in 259 reviews)); "Parking is expensive and not very convenient to some places (read: Atkinson Hall)" ((in 241 reviews)); "a PI has the all the power despite of poor management" ((in 74 reviews)); "There is no training into how to hire people and the rules constantly change resulting in frustration and wasted effort." ((in 26 reviews))

What are employees saying about UC San Diego layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about UC San Diego layoffs and their outlook for job security at UC San Diego in 2026.

What are the top reviewed UC San Diego locations?

San Diego , La Jolla , Los Angeles , New York , La Jolla Shores , San Francisco , Oakland , La Jolla Ranch , Hillcrest , San Jose , San Diego , Whittier , Fremont , Bellevue , San Diego Country Estates , Jersey City , Chicago , North Chicago , Brooklyn , Phoenix , Hudson , Dallas , El Paso , Spring , San Antonio , Honolulu , Laie , Indianapolis , Crescent City , Anaheim

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UC San Diego

UC San Diego reviews

4.1

84% would recommend to a friend

(5,724 total reviews)

Pradeep K. Khosla

54% approve of CEO

60% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.3

Diversity & inclusion

4.0

Culture & values

4.0

Work/Life balance

3.7

Career opportunities

3.6

Senior management

3.5

Compensation and benefits

UC San Diego has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 5,724 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The UC San Diego employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

6K reviews

4.0

Oct 20, 2015

Director of Biomedical Informatics

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits and flexible schedule. The campus is a collaborative environment that constantly expanding!

Cons

pay is not close to market. The area around UCSD is expensive so commuting is necessary...

3.0

Apr 14, 2015

Web Developer

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

They have decent health benefits, vacation, sick leave, holidays etc and even a pension if you manage to stay that long. There is also a decent work life balance, at least in the departments I've seen.

Cons

It's a state job, so a lot of the employees are kind of slackers, since it's pretty hard to get fired. You really have to push for promotions and even then you might just get ignored entirely. A lot of bureaucracy, so things move slowly. Not much change, as a web developer the job can get kind of stale, so the longer you're there, the less marketable you may be.

2.0

Mar 26, 2015

Good for those further along in their career

Administrative analyst

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Beautiful location Numerous food options on campus

Cons

Lack of training of management staff Managers are very disrespectful towards employees, even when reported HR does nothing No advancement opportunities for younger people Office politics remind me of high school Workload overwhelming at times Blatant favoritism among employees Expensive to park on campus

Viewing 10 - 12 of 5,724 Reviews

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Jobs at UC San Diego

Staff Research Associate 1

Staff Research Associate

Senior Administrative Assistant