University of California - Irvine

Quick Facts

Founded in 1965, the Uni­ver­sity of Cal­i­for­nia, Irvine com­bines the strengths of a major research uni­ver­sity with the bounty of an incom­pa­ra­ble South­ern Cal­i­for­nia loca­tion. UCI’s unyield­ing com­mit­ment to rig­or­ous aca­d­e­mics, cutting-​edge research, and lead­er­ship and char­ac­ter devel­op­ment makes the cam­pus a dri­ving force for inno­va­tion and dis­cov­ery that serves our local, national and global com­mu­ni­ties in many ways.

With nearly 28,000 stu­dents, 1,100 fac­ulty mem­bers and 9,000 staff, UCI is among the most dynamic cam­puses in the Uni­ver­sity of Cal­i­for­nia sys­tem. Increas­ingly a first-​choice cam­pus for stu­dents, UCI ranks among the top U.S. uni­ver­si­ties in the num­ber of under­grad­u­ate appli­ca­tions and con­tin­ues to admit fresh­men with highly com­pet­i­tive aca­d­e­mic pro­files. Orange County’s largest employer, UCI gen­er­ates an annual eco­nomic impact on the county of $4.2 billion.

Excel­lence in Acadam­ics & Research

UCI fos­ters the pas­sion­ate and enthu­si­as­tic expan­sion of knowl­edge through qual­ity edu­ca­tion. Grad­u­ates are equipped with the tools of analy­sis, expres­sion and cul­tural under­stand­ing nec­es­sary for lead­er­ship in today’s world.

Con­sis­tently ranked among the nation’s best uni­ver­si­ties – pub­lic and pri­vate — UCI excels in a broad range of fields, gar­ner­ing national recog­ni­tion for many schools, depart­ments and pro­grams. Three UCI researchers have won Nobel Prizes — two in chem­istry and one in physics.

The uni­ver­sity is noted for its top-​rated research and grad­u­ate pro­grams, exten­sive com­mit­ment to under­grad­u­ate edu­ca­tion, and grow­ing num­ber of pro­fes­sional schools and pro­grams of aca­d­e­mic and social sig­nif­i­cance. Recent addi­tions include pub­lic health, phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal sci­ences and nurs­ing sci­ence pro­grams, as well as a new School of Law that wel­comed its first stu­dents in fall 2009.

A prime Resource for the Community

UCI’s stu­dents, fac­ulty and staff reach beyond the class­rooms and lab­o­ra­to­ries to address social issues and improve the human con­di­tion. UC Irvine Med­ical Cen­ter, Orange County’s only uni­ver­sity hos­pi­tal, recently opened a new world-​class facil­ity, UC Irvine Dou­glas Hos­pi­tal, hous­ing the lat­est tech­nolo­gies and strength­en­ing UCI’s abil­ity to pro­vide spe­cial­ized med­ical and sur­gi­cal treat­ments to the region’s cit­i­zens.

A major intel­lec­tual and cul­tural cen­ter, UCI engages the com­mu­nity through many pub­lic activ­i­ties and events. Renowned indi­vid­u­als speak­ing on cam­pus include Nobel Peace Prize win­ner His Holi­ness the XIV Dalai Lama, British indus­tri­al­ist and Vir­gin Unite founder Sir Richard Bran­son, and Acad­emy Award win­ner and United Nations Mes­sen­ger of Peace Char­l­ize Theron.

Fuel­ing growth & Prosperity

In 2009-​10, the uni­ver­sity invested $344 mil­lion in cap­i­tal con­struc­tion projects, with addi­tional upgrades under way or in the plan­ning stages. Extra­mural fund­ing — money com­ing from out­side sources, includ­ing fed­eral and state agen­cies, indus­try con­tracts and pri­vate foun­da­tions in sup­port of UCI research – totaled $337 mil­lion in 2009-​10.

Under­scor­ing strong com­mu­nity sup­port, pri­vate giv­ing to UCI reached $57.5 mil­lion in 2009-​10. With an endow­ment val­ued at $246 mil­lion as of June 30, 2010, the Uni­ver­sity of Cal­i­for­nia, Irvine Foun­da­tion spear­heads pri­vate fundrais­ing efforts for the cam­pus and, with the assis­tance of alumni and com­mu­nity lead­ers, helps ensure UCI’s future as a world-​class research uni­ver­sity.

UCI ben­e­fits the com­mu­nity and the world in count­less ways through its schol­arly, sci­en­tific, cre­ative and eco­nomic con­tri­bu­tions. UCI now has embarked on a $1 bil­lion fundrais­ing cam­paign in sup­port of a strate­gic planthat will lever­age our great­est strengths to shape our future and ensure the cam­pus con­tin­ues to inspire excel­lence in research, teach­ing and pub­lic service.

For more cam­pus acco­lades and dis­tinc­tions, see UC Irvine TODAY.