The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University system and the California Community Colleges system.
The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over US$9.6 billion, the seventh largest in the United States.
Its first campus, UC Berkeley, was founded in 1868, while its tenth and newest campus, UC Merced, opened in the fall of 2005. All campuses enroll both undergraduate and graduate students, with two exceptions: the University of California, San Francisco campus enrolls only graduate and professional students in the medical and health sciences, and the independently administered University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco enrolls only graduate and professional students in legal studies.
The University of California's campuses boast large numbers of distinguished faculty in almost every field. Eight of its undergraduate campuses are ranked among the top 100, and six among the top 50 U.S. universities by both the U.S. News and World Report and the Academic Ranking of World Universities. The University is considered a model for public institutions across the United States.
In 1849, the state of California ratified its first constitution, which contained the express objective of creating a complete educational system including a state university. Taking advantage of the Morrill Land Grant Act, the California Legislature established an Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College in 1866. Although this institution was provided with sufficient funds, it lacked land.
Meanwhile, Congregational minister Henry Durant, an alumnus of Yale, had established the private Contra Costa Academy, on June 20, 1853 in Oakland, California. The initial site was bounded by Twelfth and Fourteenth Streets and Harrison and Franklin Streets in downtown Oakland. In turn, the Trustees of the Contra Costa Academy were granted a charter on April 13, 1855 for a College of California. State Historical Plaque No. 45 marks the site of the College of California at the northeast corner of Thirteenth and Franklin Streets in Oakland. Hoping both to expand and raise funds, the College of California's trustees formed the College Homestead Association and purchased 160 acres (650,000 m²) of land in what is now Berkeley in 1866. But sales of new homesteads fell short.
Governor Frederick Low favored the establishment of a state university based upon the University of Michigan plan, and thus in one sense may be regarded as the founder of the University of California. In 1867, he suggested a merger of the existing College of California with the proposed state university. The College's trustees agreed to merge with the state college to their mutual advantage, but under one condition — that there not be simply a "Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College," but "a complete university." Accordingly, the Organic Act, establishing the University of California, was signed into law by Governor Henry H. Haight (Low's successor) on March 23, 1868.
The University of California's second president, Daniel Coit Gilman, opened the Berkeley campus in September 1873. Earlier that year, Toland Medical College in San Francisco had agreed to become the University's "Medical Department"; it later evolved into UCSF. In 1878, the University established its first law school in San Francisco with a US$100,000 gift from Serranus Clinton Hastings; it is now Hastings College of the Law.
In 1905, the Legislature established a "University Farm School" which would be located at Davis and in 1907 a "Citrus Experiment Station" at Riverside as adjuncts to the College of Agriculture at Berkeley. In 1959, the Legislature promoted the "Farm" and "Experiment Station" to the rank of "general campus," creating, respectively, UC Davis and UC Riverside.
In 1919, the Legislature arranged for an existing normal school in Los Angeles to become the University's "Southern Branch." In turn, the Southern Branch became UCLA in 1927. In 1944, the former Santa Barbara State College--renamed UC Santa Barbara--became the third general-education campus of the University of California system.
The San Diego campus was founded as a marine station in 1912 and became UCSD in 1959. Campuses were established at Santa Cruz and Irvine in 1965. UC Merced opened in fall 2005.
The California Master Plan for Higher Education of 1960 established that UC select from the top 12.5% (1/8th) of graduating high school seniors in California. Prior to the promulgation of the Master Plan, UC was to select from the top 15%. The university doesn't follow all tenets of this plan, such as the stricture that no campus is to exceed 27,500 in enrollment to ensure quality. Three campuses, Berkeley, UCLA, and Davis, all currently enroll over 30,000.
The University of California and most of its campuses are members of the Association of American Universities (AAU). Collectively, the system counts among its faculty (as of 2002):
Eight campuses operate on the quarter system, while Berkeley and Merced are on the semester system. However, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and all UC law schools operate on the semester system.
The Academic Senate, made up of faculty members, is empowered by the Regents to set academic policies. In addition, the system-wide faculty chair and vice-chair sit on the Board of Regents as non-voting members.
Originally the President was directly in charge of the first campus, Berkeley, and in turn, all other UC locations (with the exception of Hastings College of the Law) were controlled by the Berkeley campus. In 1952, the system was reorganized so that day-to-day "chief executive officer" functions for each campus were transferred to Chancellors who were entrusted with a high degree of autonomy. In turn, all Chancellors (again, with the exception of Hastings) report as equals to the UC President. Today, the UC Office of the President and the Office of the Secretary of the Regents of the University of California share an office building in downtown Oakland which serves as the UC system's headquarters.
Besides substantial six-figure incomes, the UC President and all UC chancellors enjoy a number of controversial perks, such as free housing in the form of university-maintained mansions. In 1962, Anson Blake's will donated his 10 acre estate (Blake Garden) and mansion (Blake House) in Kensington to the University of California's Department of Landscape Architecture. In 1968, the Regents decided that Blake House would become the official residence of the UC President. As of 2005, it currently costs around US$300,000 per year to maintain Blake Garden and Blake House; the latter, built in 1926, is a mansion with a view of San Francisco Bay. Also, all UC chancellors live for free in a mansion on or near campus that is usually known as University House. UCSD's mansion has been closed due to its age and poor condition, but the university plans to replace it.
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On 13 August 2007, President Dynes announced that he will step down effective June 2008, or until his replacement is selected. However, he also announced that Provost Wyatt (Rory) Hume will take over as the system's chief operating officer, effective immediately. Three state lawmakers had publicly demanded his resignation for his handling of the executive pay compensation scandal that stemmed from UC system Provost M.R.C. Greenwood's violation of UC conflict-of-interest rules. (She had created a management job at UC headquarters for a friend with whom she owned rental property, and a subordinate, Winston Doby, improperly helped create a highly-paid year-long internship for her son at UC Merced.)
Incoming President Mark Yudof is due to take over on June 16 2008.
The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco recently ruled that the University of California owes nearly US$40 million dollars in refunds to about 40,000 students who were promised that their tuition fees would be held steady but were hit with increases when the state ran short of money in 2003.
| Position | Salary range | Maximum off-scale limit |
| Lecturer | $50,292 - $140,724 | N/A |
| Senior lecturer | $92,400 - $140,724 | N/A |
| Assistant Professor | $61,700 - $80,300 | $90,000 |
| Associate Professor | $76,700 - $97,100 | $111,700 |
| Full Professor | $90,200 - $164,700 | $178,600 |
Although affiliated with the UC system, the Hastings College of Law is not controlled by the Regents or President; it has a separate board of directors and must seek funding directly from the Legislature. However, under the California Education Code, the Juris Doctor from Hastings is awarded in the name of the Regents and bears the signature of the President. Furthermore, Education Code section 92201 states that Hastings "is affiliated with the University of California, and is the law department thereof.
Some campuses are better known around the world than others, especially Berkeley and UCLA. According to UCLA's Daily Bruin campus newspaper, UCLA is so well-known in Asia that the university has licensed its trademark to 15 UCLA-branded stores across East Asia.
| Campus | Acreage | Founded | Enrollment | Operations | Athletics Nickname | USNews | ARWU | NSF | Wash. Monthly | NCAA Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | 1,600 | 1868 | 33,558 | 1.59 billion | Golden Bears | 21-Tier1 | 3 | 15 | 3 | Div I Pac-10 |
| Davis | 3,697 | 1908 | 29,637 | 2.27 billion | Aggies | 44-Tier1 | 48 | 17 | 8 | Div I Big West |
| Irvine | 1,400 | 1965 | 25,024 | 1.42 billion | Anteaters | 44-Tier1 | 46 | 58 | 49 | Div I Big West |
| Los Angeles | 419 | 1919 | 37,221 | 3.39 billion | Bruins | 25-Tier1 | 13 | 4 | 2 | Div I Pac-10 |
| Merced | 2,160 | 2005 | 878 | 0.07 billion | Golden Bobcats | Not Ranked | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Riverside | 1,160 | 1954 | 16,622 | 0.46 billion | Highlanders | 89-Tier1 | 101-151 | 113 | 15 | Div I Big West |
| San Diego | 2,124 | 1960 | 25,938 | 2.08 billion | Tritons | 35-Tier1 | 14 | 6 | 4 | Div II CCAA |
| San Francisco | 135 | 1873 | 4,174 | 2.48 billion | Bears | 5 (Med School) | 18 | 5 | N/A | N/A |
| Santa Barbara | 990 | 1944 | 21,016 | 0.62 billion | Gauchos | 44-Tier1 | 36 | 97 | 36 | Div I Big West |
| Santa Cruz | 2,950 | 1965 | 15,012 | 0.45 billion | Banana Slug | 96-Tier1 | 101-151 | 123 | 76 | Div III independent |
The 2009 issue of US News & World Report Best Colleges-National Universities recognized UC Riverside (9th), UC Irvine (14th) and UC San Diego (14th) in its "up and coming universities" to watch for rankings.
UCLA, Berkeley, and Santa Cruz were named in the top 20 gay-friendly campuses in the nation by The Advocate magazine.
UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, and UC Davis were named by the magazine Washington Monthly as four of top 10 campuses in the country based on social mobility and community service.
Most UC employees beside faculty and administration are represented by labor unions. Unions in the UC system include:
- UC Scientists and Engineers at Lawrence Livermore National LaboratoryPrior to 1986, students who wished to apply to a UC for undergraduate study could only apply to one campus. If the student was rejected at that campus, but otherwise met the UC minimum eligibility requirements, he or she would be redirected to another campus with available space. For students who did not wish to be redirected, the application fee was returned. In 1986, that system was changed to the current "multiple filing" system, in which a student can apply to as many or as few UC campuses as he or she wants on one application, paying a fee for each campus. This system significantly increased the numbers of applications to the Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses, since students could choose which campus they wanted to attend after they received acceptance letters, without the fear of being redirected to a campus they did not want to attend.
The University of California accepts fully eligible students from among the top eighth of California public high school graduates through regular statewide admission, or the top 4% of any given high school class through Eligibility in the Local Context (see below). All eligible California high school students who apply are accepted to the University, though not necessarily to the campus of choice. Eligible students who are not accepted to the campus(es) of their choice are placed in the "referral pool", where campuses with open space may offer admission to those students; in 2003 10 percent of students who received an offer through this referral process accepted it. In 2007, about 4,100 UC-eligible students who were not offered admission to their campus of choice were referred to UCR and UC Merced, the system's newest campus.
Undergraduate admissions are conducted on a two-phase basis. In the first phase, students are admitted based solely on academic achievement. This accounts for between 50 to 75% of the admissions. In the second phase, the university conducts a "comprehensive review" of the student's achievements, including extracurricular activities, essay, family history, and life challenges, to admit the remainder. Very rarely, students who do not qualify for regular admission are "admitted by exception." In 2002, 2% of these exceptions were granted.
The process for determining admissions varies. At some campuses, such as Davis, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Santa Cruz, a point system is used to weight grade point average, SAT Reasoning or ACT scores, and SAT Subject scores, while at Berkeley, Irvine, and Los Angeles, academic achievement is examined in the context of the school and the surrounding community.
Race, gender, national origin, and ethnicity have not been used as UC admission criteria since the passing of Proposition 209. However, this information is collected for statistical purposes.
| Campus | Applicants | Admits | Admit Rate | GPA Avg | ACT | SAT Reading | SAT Math | SAT Writing | SAT Composite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | 48,462 | 10,382 | 21.4% | 4.18 | 29 | 665 | 696 | 674 | 2034 |
| UC Davis | 40,612 | 21,256 | 52.3% | 3.94 | 27 | 604 | 642 | 614 | 1860 |
| UC Irvine | 42,429 | 20,429 | 48.5% | 3.95 | 26 | 594 | 639 | 606 | 1839 |
| UC Los Angeles | 55,406 | 12,574 | 22.7% | 4.15 | 29 | 653 | 686 | 664 | 2003 |
| UC Merced | 10,425 | 8,544 | 82.0% | 3.54 | 23 | 537 | 577 | 540 | 1654 |
| UC Riverside | 22,390 | 16,816 | 75.9% | 3.58 | 23 | 536 | 576 | 544 | 1656 |
| UC San Diego | 47,407 | 19,010 | 40.1% | 4.07 | 28 | 630 | 671 | 642 | 1943 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 47,073 | 23,166 | 49.2% | 3.94 | 27 | 606 | 633 | 616 | 1855 |
| UC Santa Cruz | 27,839 | 20,267 | 72.8% | 3.70 | 25 | 583 | 602 | 587 | 1772 |
The University of California has a long tradition of involvement in many enterprises that are often geographically or organizationally separate from its general campuses, including national laboratories, observatories, hospitals, continuing education programs, hotels, conference centers, an airport, and an art institute.
The University of California directly manages and operates one United States Department of Energy National Laboratory:
UC is a limited partner in two separate private companies that manage and operate two other Department of Energy national laboratories:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory uses advance science and technology to ensure that the US’s nuclear weapons remain safe, secure, and reliable. LLNL also has major research programs in supercomputing and predictive modeling, energy and environment, bioscience and biotechnology, basic science and applied technology, counter proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and homeland security. It is also home to the most powerful supercomputers in the world.
Los Alamos National Laboratory focuses most of its work on ensuring the safety and reliability of the US's nuclear weapons. Other work at LANL involves research programs into preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction and US national security, such as protection of the US homeland from terrorist attack.
The UC's ties to the three laboratories have occasionally sparked controversy and protest, because all three laboratories have been intimately linked with the development of nuclear weapons. During the World War II Manhattan Project, Lawrence Berkeley Lab developed the electromagnetic method for separation of uranium isotopes used to develop the first atomic bombs. The Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore labs have been involved in designing the nation's nuclear weapons from inception until the shift into stockpile stewardship after the close of the Cold War.
Historically the two national laboratories in Berkeley and Livermore named after Ernest O. Lawrence, have had very close relationships on research projects, as well as sharing some business operations and staff. In fact, LLNL was not officially severed administratively from LBNL until the early 1970s. They also have much deeper ties to the university than the Los Alamos Lab, a fact seen in their respective original names; the University of California Berkeley Radiation Laboratory and the University of California Radiation Laboratory at Livermore.
On June 1, 2006, the University of California ended its direct involvement in operating Los Alamos National Laboratory, and management control of the laboratory was taken over by Los Alamos National Security, LLC. Approximately 95% of the former 10,000 UC employees at LANL were rehired by LANS to continue working at LANL.
On October 1, 2007, the University of California ended its direct involvement in operating the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Management control of the laboratory was taken over by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, a limited liability company whose members are Bechtel National, the University of California, Babcock and Wilcox, the Washington Division of URS Corporation, Battelle Memorial Institute, and The Teaxs A&M University System.
Other than UC appointing three members to the two separate board of directors (each with eleven member) that oversee LANS and LLNS, UC now has virtually no responsibility or direct involvement in either LANL or LLNL. UC policies and regulations that apply to UC campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California no longer apply to LANL and LLNL, and the LANL and LLNL Directors no longer report to the UC Regents or UC Office of the President.
The Astronomy Department at the Berkeley campus manages the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Shasta County.
In the latter half of the 20th century, the UC hospitals became the core of full-fledged regional health systems; they were gradually supplemented by many outpatient clinics, offices, and institutes. Three UC hospitals are actually county hospitals which were sold to UC, which means that UC has come to play a major role in providing healthcare to the indigent. The medical hospitals operated by UC Irvine (acquired in 1976), UC Davis (acquired in 1978), and UC San Diego (acquired in 1984), each began as the respective county hospitals of Orange County, Sacramento County, and San Diego County.