Is UC Santa Cruz a good company to work for?

UC Santa Cruz has an overall rating of 4.3 out of 5, based on over 1,664 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has increased by 3% over the last 12 months. 84% of employees would recommend working at UC Santa Cruz to a friend and 70% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about UC Santa Cruz have been left by employees working as Academic Tutor , Postdoctoral Researcher and Tutor .

Does UC Santa Cruz pay their employees well?

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

How satisfied are employees working at UC Santa Cruz?

84% of UC Santa Cruz employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated UC Santa Cruz 4.2 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.3 for culture and values and 3.7 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at UC Santa Cruz?

Teaching Assistant (57) , Graduate Student Researcher (48) , Graduate Teaching Assistant (34) , Research Assistant (33) , Tutor (20) , Graduate Student (19) , Lecturer (19) , Administrative Assistant (18) , Student Worker (17) , Graduate Research Assistant (15) , Student Dining Hall Worker (14) , Junior Specialist (12) , Resident Assistant (12) , Academic Tutor (10) , Intern (10)

What are the pros of working at UC Santa Cruz according to real employee reviews?

"The campus is beautiful and nice to work" ((in 94 reviews)); "It is an easy job and the people are great." ((in 85 reviews)); "The hours are flexible and it beats off campus jobs since they are really understanding of student's schedules." ((in 69 reviews)); "Good benefits for grad students: tuition deduction" ((in 62 reviews)); "Great Place to Study and has Friendly Staff" ((in 31 reviews))

What are the cons of working at UC Santa Cruz according to real employee reviews?

"Low pay and very hectic first month." ((in 122 reviews)); "base salary low" ((in 49 reviews)); "management is poor" ((in 25 reviews)); "Back to minimum wage for many." ((in 10 reviews)); "Mandatory meetings and trainings especially during weekends really suck." ((in 8 reviews))

What are employees saying about UC Santa Cruz layoffs in 2026?

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

What are the top reviewed UC Santa Cruz locations?

Santa Cruz , San Francisco , Los Angeles , San Jose , Scotts Valley , Santa Clara , Watsonville , Chicago , New York , Santa Clarita , Sacramento , Mount Hamilton , Urbana , Flagstaff , Austin , Bakersfield , Huntington Beach , Ladera Ranch , Laguna Beach , Pasadena , Santa Ana , Santa Monica , Rancho Cucamonga , San Diego , Berkeley , Castro Valley , Fremont , Oakland , Pacifica , Mountain View

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UC Santa Cruz

UC Santa Cruz reviews

4.3

84% would recommend to a friend

(1,477 total reviews)

George R. Blumenthal

69% approve of CEO

70% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.5

Diversity & inclusion

4.3

Culture & values

4.2

Work/Life balance

3.9

Senior management

3.7

Career opportunities

3.5

Compensation and benefits

UC Santa Cruz has an employee rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars, based on 1,477 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The UC Santa Cruz 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

1K reviews

5.0

Aug 25, 2010

Great Place to Work

Administrative assistant iii

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Highly motivated people, very supportive community, park-like setting, intellectually stimulating, and generally congenial attitudes.

Cons

Assuming you have the job you are trained for it is a very enjoyable place to work.

4.0

May 21, 2010

on professionalism

Teaching assistant, college or university

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Beautiful campus, eager students, TAs are unfairly worked - Profs often undervalue TA role, assign extra tasks to TA at last minute. Coming from the business world, I found Professors to be particularly unprofessional towards their underlings. (doubt this is different at other schools).

Cons

Stressed students, TA's have most of the face-to-face with students, large classes - disconnect with Professors

3.0

Feb 18, 2010

Great co-workers; Out of touch Senior Management

Its employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

-ITS middle-managers generally do a good job of work/life balance -Gorgeous campus and surroundings -Great atmosphere and attitude of students and staff -Many staff were previously students and are committed to the University

Cons

-ITS Senior Management is extremely out of touch with the academic mission and the values of this organization that they, themselves, created and quote often -Several ITS Directors are not qualified for the high-level jobs they hold - not in touch with the employees, poor communicators, poor management skills -ITS needs to refocus their priorities towards the academic mission and re-think their policies towards this end. -Getting information about salary benefits and the like can be a frightening tumble into mis-information and people who don't seem to recognize the importance of their jobs. Several of us actually haven't gotten paid for a month due to payroll/HR staff errors.

Viewing 1465 - 1467 of 1,477 Reviews

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Jobs at UC Santa Cruz

Domestic Admissions First Year Reviewer

Student Employment Assistant

Student Employment Coordinator

Business Systems Analyst

Research Support Associate