University of California facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
University of California

Motto	Fiat lux (Latin)
Motto in English	Let there be light
Type	Public research university system
Established	March 23, 1868; 157 years ago (March 23, 1868)
Endowment	$27.9 billion (June 30, 2022)
Budget	$51.4 billion (2023–2024)
President	Michael V. Drake
Academic staff	25,400 (March 2024)
Administrative staff	173,300 (March 2024)
Students	295,573 (Fall 2023)
Undergraduates	233,272 (Fall 2023)
Postgraduates	62,229 (Fall 2023)
Location	Oakland , California , United States
Campus	10 campuses under direct control (nine with undergraduate and graduate schools, one professional/graduate only), one affiliated law school, one national laboratory
Colors	Blue      Gold
Website	universityofcalifornia.edu

The University of California (UC) is a large group of public universities in California. It's like a big school system with many campuses. The main office is in Oakland.

UC has ten main campuses: Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. It also has many research centers.

UC is known as a "land-grant university." This means it received land from the government to help teach farming and engineering. Many UC campuses are ranked among the best universities in the world. They are also part of the Association of American Universities, a group of top research universities.

Six UC campuses are called "Public Ivies." This means they offer a high-quality education similar to the private Ivy League schools. UC has many amazing teachers and researchers. As of 2021, UC faculty and researchers have won 71 Nobel Prizes.

In total, the ten campuses have over 295,000 students. They also have 25,400 teachers and 173,300 staff members. Over two million people have graduated from UC schools. The newest campus, UC Merced, opened in 2005.

Nine campuses offer programs for both undergraduate (first-degree) and graduate students. One campus, UC San Francisco, focuses only on medical and health sciences for graduate students. The University of California College of the Law in San Francisco is connected to UC but runs mostly on its own.

UC is part of California's plan for public higher education. This plan also includes the California State University system and the California Community Colleges. A group called the Board of Regents manages UC. The University of California also helps manage three national laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy. These are Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The University of California started on March 23, 1868. It first operated in Oakland and then moved to Berkeley in 1873. Over time, more campuses and programs were added across the state. In the 1950s, UC changed from one main campus (Berkeley) to a system of many campuses. Each campus got more freedom to manage itself.

History of the University of California

How UC Started

In 1849, California decided to create a full education system, including a state university. In 1866, the state set up an Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College. This was mainly to get federal money for land-grant universities.

At the same time, a private school called Contra Costa Academy started in Oakland in 1853. It later became the College of California. This college focused on a broad education, including old languages like Greek and Latin. However, not many students were interested in this type of learning back then.

In 1857, the College of California started buying land in what is now Berkeley. They wanted to build a future campus there. They also bought land nearby to sell and raise money for the college.

California's Governor, Frederick Low, wanted a state university like the University of Michigan. In 1867, a professor from Yale University said that California should build a real university, not just a technical school. Governor Low then suggested that the College of California and the state college should combine. The College of California had land, buildings, and teachers, but not enough money. The state college had money but nothing else.

On October 9, 1867, the College of California agreed to join with the state college. They had one condition: it had to be a complete university, not just a technical school. The new university would use the College of California's resources to create a College of Letters.

The law to create the University of California was signed on March 23, 1868. The new university was not just a merger. It was a new institution that took ideas and resources from both colleges. The second president of the University of California, Daniel Coit Gilman, opened the new campus in Berkeley in September 1873.

UC's Partner Schools

The original law allowed UC to partner with other professional colleges. These partners would share UC's good name. UC would give degrees to their graduates. But these partner schools managed their own money and operations. This is how UC got medical and law schools in San Francisco early on.

In 1879, California's new constitution made sure UC was very independent from the state government. This was important for the Hastings College of the Law. Hastings was a partner school that wanted to stay independent. Even today, the College of the Law (now just called the College of the Law) has its own board and is not directly run by the UC Regents.

Other medical and dental schools in San Francisco also partnered with UC. Over time, these partner colleges started to work more closely with UC. They eventually became the health sciences campus known as the University of California, San Francisco.

Growing and Spreading Out

In 1882, a teacher training school opened in Los Angeles. In 1919, this school became part of UC and was called the Southern Branch of the University of California. In 1927, it became the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

Los Angeles grew very fast and became the biggest city in California. People there wanted their campus to have more importance and freedom. In 1951, UCLA became equal in status to the Berkeley campus. Both campuses got chancellors to run them.

When Clark Kerr became UC president in 1957, he helped UC become a true system of universities. He gave more power to the chancellors at each campus. He also made the UC system less centralized.

Over the 20th century, UC added more locations. Farmers in California wanted UC to do research to help them. So, a "University Farm School" was started in Davis in 1905. A "Citrus Experiment Station" was set up in Riverside in 1907. In 1912, UC took over a private oceanography lab in San Diego. In 1944, UC took over Santa Barbara State College.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, these locations became full UC campuses. They were renamed UCSB (1958), UC Davis (1959), UC Riverside (1959), UC San Diego (1960), and UCSF (1964). Each new campus also got its own chancellor.

Because California's population kept growing, UC opened two more campuses in 1965: UC Irvine and UC Santa Cruz. The newest campus, UC Merced, opened in 2005 to serve the San Joaquin Valley.

After all these changes, the UC president's office moved from the Berkeley campus to Oakland in 1989. This showed that UC was now a system with many equal campuses.

Recent History

The California Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960 said that UC must accept students from the top 12.5% of high school graduates in California. This was to make sure that the best students had a place at UC. The plan also suggested that public higher education should be free for California residents.

However, after a law called Proposition 13 passed in 1978, UC received less money from the state. This forced UC to start charging various fees, which were like tuition. In 2010, these fees were officially renamed "Tuition."

To get more money, UC started accepting more students from other states and countries. These students paid higher fees. But in 2015, UC had to change this and admit more California residents because of public concern.

In 2022, about 48,000 academic workers at UC went on strike. They wanted better pay and benefits. The strike lasted almost six weeks and ended in December.

How UC is Managed

Most University of California campuses are managed by the Regents of the University of California. This is required by the California Constitution. The Governor of California appoints 18 regents for 12-year terms. One student is also appointed for a one-year term. There are also seven other members who hold their positions because of their jobs, like the Governor and the UC President.

The Academic Senate, made up of professors, helps set the rules for academics. The faculty chairs also sit on the Board of Regents as non-voting members.

The UC President

At first, the UC president was mainly in charge of the Berkeley campus. Other UC locations were like smaller parts of Berkeley. But in 1951, the university changed its structure. Chancellors were put in charge of the Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses. They reported to the UC president as equals.

Later, five more UC locations became full campuses with their own chancellors. The three newest campuses also have chancellors. All chancellors report to the University of California President. Today, the UC Office of the President is in downtown Oakland. It is the main office for the entire UC system.

The idea behind UC's management is "one university with many decision-makers." This means that even though each campus has its own chancellor and academic life, they are all part of one legal entity. UC works together as one university when dealing with the state government. It also keeps common standards for things like student admissions and faculty hiring across all campuses.

List of presidents

1868–1869 Henry Durant 1869–1870 John LeConte 1870–1872 Henry Durant 1872–1875 Daniel Coit Gilman 1875–1881 John LeConte 1881–1885 W.T. Reid 1885–1888 Edward S. Holden 1888–1890 Horace Davis

1890–1899 Martin Kellogg 1899–1919 Benjamin Ide Wheeler 1919–1923 David Prescott Barrows 1923–1930 William Wallace Campbell 1930–1958 Robert Gordon Sproul 1958–1967 Clark Kerr 1967–1967 Harry R. Wellman (acting president) 1967–1975 Charles J. Hitch

1975–1983 David S. Saxon 1983–1992 David P. Gardner 1992–1995 Jack W. Peltason 1995–2003 Richard C. Atkinson 2003–2008 Robert C. Dynes 2008–2013 Mark Yudof 2013–2020: Janet Napolitano 2020–present: Michael V. Drake

Until 2013, all UC presidents were white men. Then, Janet Napolitano became the first woman to be UC President. In 2020, Dr. Michael V. Drake became the first Black president in UC's 152-year history. He started his job on August 1, 2020.

Official Homes

The UC president and all UC chancellors get free housing in university-owned homes. These homes are often large mansions. From 1968 to 2008, the Blake House in Kensington was the official home of the UC president.

Since 2008, Blake House has been empty because it needs a lot of repairs. From 2008 to 2022, UC presidents lived in rented homes. In 2022, UC bought the Selden Williams House in Berkeley to be the new official residence for the UC president.

Most UC chancellors also live in a "University House" on or near their campus. They use these homes for events with guests and donors. For example, Berkeley's University House is now the home of Berkeley's chancellor.

Money Matters

The State of California gives about $3.467 billion to the UC system each year. UC's total operating money is about $41.6 billion. The biggest part of UC's money comes from its medical centers. Other money comes from the federal government, student tuition, and private donations.

In 1980, the state paid for most of UC's budget (86.8%). Now, the state pays much less. This means students have to pay more in fees. In 2011, for the first time, student fees brought in more money than the state's contributions.

In 2007, a court ruled that UC owed nearly $40 million in refunds to students. These students were promised steady tuition fees, but then their fees went up in 2003.

In 2019, the University of California announced it would stop investing its money in the fossil fuel industry. This was to avoid financial risks related to climate change.

UC Campuses and Their Rankings

The UC system has ten campuses that are directly controlled by the regents and president. These are the main UC schools.

The College of the Law, San Francisco is part of the UC system by name. However, it is not controlled by the regents or president. It has its own board and gets money directly from the state. Still, its degrees are awarded in the name of the UC regents and signed by the UC president.

University Rankings

UC campuses are often ranked very highly by different groups. In 2022, six UC campuses were in the top 50 U.S. National Universities by U.S. News & World Report. These were UCLA, Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, and UC Davis.

Four UC campuses were also in the top 50 in the U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities Rankings in 2021. These were Berkeley, UCLA, UCSF, and UC San Diego. UCSF is known as one of the best universities in the world for biomedicine. Its medical school is ranked 3rd in the U.S. for research.

Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego were all in the top 15 universities in the U.S. in 2020. They also ranked in the top 20 worldwide. Other UC campuses like UCSF, UC Davis, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Barbara were in the top 50 U.S. universities and top 100 worldwide.

Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego also ranked in the top 50 universities globally by Times Higher Education World University Rankings and Center for World University Rankings. UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Davis were in the top 100 worldwide.

Forbes magazine also ranked six UC campuses in the top 50 universities in America in 2021. They named Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego as the top three public universities in America. UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Irvine were also in the top 20 public universities. These six campuses are all considered "Public Ivies."

Many individual departments at UC campuses also rank highly. For example, in 2021, Berkeley was among the top 5 universities in the nation for Psychology, Economics, Computer Science, and Engineering. UCLA and UC San Diego also had many departments in the top 20.

Academics at UC

As of 2022, UC holds over 13,700 active patents. UC researchers and teachers created 1,570 new inventions that year. On average, UC researchers come up with four new inventions every day.

Eight of UC's ten campuses are members of the Association of American Universities (AAU). This is a group of top American research universities. UC faculty members have won many awards and honors. As of 2002, they include:

• 389 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 5 Fields Medal recipients (for math)
• 19 Fulbright Scholars
• 25 MacArthur Fellows
• 254 members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
• 91 members of the National Academy of Engineering
• 13 National Medal of Science winners
• 61 Nobel laureates
• 106 members of the Institute of Medicine

Nobel Prize Winners at UC

As of October 2021, many people connected to UC have won Nobel Prizes. This includes both former students and staff.

Campus	Number of Winners	Founded	Winners per 10 years of age
Berkeley	110	1868	7.2
San Diego	28	1960	4.6
Los Angeles	27	1919	2.6
Santa Barbara	14	1909	1.8
San Francisco	10	1864	0.7
Irvine	7	1965	1.3
Davis	4	1905	0.3
Riverside	3	1954	0.4
Santa Cruz	1	1965	0.2
Merced	0	2005	0

UC Libraries

The University of California has one of the largest collections of books in the world. It has over 40.8 million printed books. In 2021, all ten campuses started using one online library catalog called UC Library Search.

The UC system also has two large storage facilities for older books. One is for Northern California and one for Southern California.

School Calendar

Eight UC campuses use the "quarter system." This means their school year is divided into four shorter terms. Two campuses, Berkeley and Merced, use the "semester system," which has two longer terms. All five law schools and the UCLA medical school also use the semester system.

How Schools are Organized

Many UC campuses, like Davis, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Santa Barbara, have a large "College of Letters and Science." This college includes most arts, humanities, and science subjects. At Berkeley, Davis, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara, this college is the biggest academic part of the campus. The College of Letters and Science at Los Angeles is the largest academic unit in the whole UC system.

San Diego and Santa Cruz have a "residential college" system. This means students live in different colleges, and each college has its own special learning focus. Most academic subjects are grouped into a few big divisions.

Irvine is organized into 13 schools, and San Francisco has four schools. These schools are usually focused on specific subjects.

Getting into UC

Each UC campus handles its own admissions. However, students use one application to apply to all UC undergraduate campuses. If you want to go to graduate school or a professional school, you apply directly to that specific department or program.

In 2020, UC decided to stop requiring SAT and ACT test scores for admissions until 2024. In 2021, after a student lawsuit, UC announced it would no longer use SAT and ACT scores for admissions or scholarships.

The Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) helps students from less privileged backgrounds. It helps them prepare for college, understand admission rules, and find financial aid.

The University of California accepts many transfer students, especially from California Community Colleges. About one out of three UC students start at a community college. When reviewing transfer applications, universities look at grades, special courses, activities, essays, family background, and life challenges.

First-Year Students

Before 1986, students could only apply to one UC campus. If they were rejected but still qualified for UC, they might be sent to another campus with open spots. This often made students unhappy.

In 1986, the application system changed. Students could apply to as many UC campuses as they wanted on one application. This made more students apply to popular campuses like Berkeley and Los Angeles.

UC accepts qualified students from the top one-eighth (1/8) of California public high school graduates. All eligible California high school students who apply are accepted to the university system. However, they might not get into their first-choice campus. If a student is not accepted to their top choice, they might be offered a spot at another UC campus. In 2015, UC Merced was the only campus that had space for all qualified applicants who were redirected.

The admission process looks at many things. Some campuses use a point system based on grades and test scores. Others, like San Diego, Berkeley, and Los Angeles, look at a student's achievements in the context of their school and community. This is called a "holistic review."

UC does not use race, gender, or ethnicity as admission criteria. This is due to a law called Proposition 209. This information is collected only for statistics.

The "Eligibility in the Local Context" (ELC) program guarantees a spot at a UC campus for students in the top 9% of their high school class. They must also have a certain GPA in UC-approved courses.

In 2021, the first-year class at UC was the largest and most diverse ever, with 84,223 students. Latino students were the largest group (37%), followed by Asian Americans (34%), white non-Hispanics (20%), and African-Americans (5%).

Student Diversity

In recent years, UC has faced criticism for admitting many out-of-state or international students. This means fewer spots for California students. UC Berkeley and UCLA have been especially criticized because they have very low acceptance rates.

A 2020 report found that some wealthy students were wrongly admitted to UC schools. This happened as favors to powerful people. Many of these students were falsely listed as student athletes. Most of these cases happened at UC Berkeley.

Research at UC

The University of California is known for its research. In 2006, UC won an award for its efforts to make research available to everyone. This included creating the California Digital Library and its eScholarship program.

In 2013, UC decided that all research by UC faculty must be put into UC's eScholarship system. This makes the research openly available to the public.

UC research on the SAT exam found that the SAT II (subject tests) were better at predicting college success than the SAT I (general test).

Other UC Activities

The University of California is involved in many activities beyond its main campuses. These include national laboratories, observatories, hospitals, and continuing education programs.

National Laboratories

The University of California directly manages one U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory:

• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, or Berkeley Lab) in Berkeley, California.

UC is also a partner in companies that manage two other national laboratories:

• Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, California.

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory does research in many science areas. It focuses on understanding the universe, biology, tiny materials (nanoscience), new energy, and environmental solutions.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory uses science and technology to make sure U.S. nuclear weapons are safe. It also has programs in supercomputing, energy, environment, and protecting the homeland. It is home to some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory mainly works on keeping U.S. nuclear weapons safe. It also researches how to stop the spread of dangerous weapons and protect the U.S. from attacks.

UC's connection to these labs has sometimes caused debate. This is because all three labs have been involved in developing nuclear weapons. During World War II, Lawrence Berkeley Lab helped create the first atomic bombs. Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore labs have designed U.S. nuclear weapons.

In 2007, the University of California stopped directly managing the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Now, private companies manage Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore labs. UC still has some involvement by appointing members to their boards.

Observatories

The University of California manages two observatories. These are places where scientists study space:

• Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, near San Jose.
• Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

The Astronomy Department at the Berkeley campus also manages the Hat Creek Radio Observatory.

UC Natural Reserve System

The NRS started in 1965. It provides large areas of land for UC scientists to do long-term research on ecosystems. This research is done without being disturbed by tourists. Today, the NRS manages 39 reserves, covering over 756,000 acres.

• Selected reserves of the University of California Natural Reserve System
• 

  Coal Oil Point Reserve

• 

  Rancho Marino Reserve

• 

  Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve

• 

  Younger Lagoon Reserve

• 

  Bodega Marine Reserve

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) is very important for California's farming industry. It continues UC's role as a land-grant institution. UCANR does research on farming and youth development. Every county in California has a UCANR office with farm advisors. These offices also support 4-H programs and help local governments with nutrition and family sciences.

Medical Centers and Hospitals

The University of California runs five medical centers across the state:

• UC Davis Medical Center, in Sacramento;
• UC Irvine Medical Center, in Orange;
• UCLA Medical Center, with two hospitals in Los Angeles and Santa Monica;
• UC San Diego Medical Center, with two hospitals in San Diego and La Jolla; and
• UCSF Medical Center, with three locations around San Francisco.

• Medical centers of the University of California
• 

  UCD Medical Center

• 

  UCSD Medical Center

• 

  UCLA Medical Center

• 

  UCSF Medical Center

• 

  UCI Medical Center

Each medical center is the main teaching hospital for that campus's medical school. UCSF is consistently ranked among the top medical programs. UCLA and UC San Diego are also highly ranked for research. The hospitals connected to these schools are also very good. For example, UCSF Medical Center was ranked the number one hospital in California in 2017.

UC also has a sixth medical school, the UC Riverside School of Medicine. This is the only one in the UC system that does not have its own hospital.

In the past, three UC hospitals were county hospitals that UC bought. This means UC plays a big role in providing healthcare to people who cannot afford it. As of 2024, UC medical centers handle about 10 million outpatient visits each year.

Other Facilities

UC has other sites to support students and researchers outside of California:

• The UC Office of the President's Education Abroad Program has a mini-campus called Casa de California in Mexico City.
• The UC Washington Center in Washington, D.C. has a dorm for students who are interning with the federal government.
• UC Berkeley runs the Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station in Mo'orea, French Polynesia.

Hotels and Conference Centers

UC also offers hospitality services at some locations:

• UC Berkeley's alumni association runs travel trips for alumni and their families. They also have a family camp called the Lair of the Golden Bear.
• Berkeley Lab has its own hotel, the Berkeley Lab Guest House.
• UCLA has two on-campus hotels and a conference center at Lake Arrowhead. UCLA Health also runs a hotel for patients and their families.

University Airport

UC Davis operates the University Airport. This airport is used for shuttle services for university employees and for transporting agricultural samples. It is also a public airport for general aviation.

Seaport

UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography owns a seaport called the Nimitz Marine Facility. This port is used as a base for all of its oceanographic research vessels.

UC Extension Programs

For over 100 years, UC has offered continuing education programs for adults and professionals. Each year, UC Extension enrolls over 500,000 students in more than 17,000 courses. It is a major provider of continuing education for lawyers and medical professionals in California.

See also

In Spanish: Universidad de California para niños

• Police departments at the University of California
• University of California Press
• University of California Student Association