University of California--Irvine

University of California--Irvine is a public institution that was founded in 1965. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 23,530, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 1,474 acres. It utilizes a quarter-based academic calendar. University of California--Irvine's ranking in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 42. Its in-state tuition and fees are $14,757 (2014-15); out-of-state tuition and fees are $37,635 (2014-15).

On the sunny campus of the University of California—Irvine, students don't have far to go to decompress after class. The Pacific Ocean is a quick 5-mile trip away, attracting surfers, sailors and sunbathers alike. Seated in Orange County, the bustling campus is home to more than 500 student organizations, including nearly 50 fraternities and sororities. The UC—Irvine Anteaters compete at the Division I level in the Big West Conference, cheered on by non-traditional mascot Peter the Anteater and a group of student fans called Eater Nation. While UC Irvine is known as a commuter school, university officials have tried to combat that status by offering more on-campus residence options. Freshmen are not required to live on campus, but more than three-fourths of first-year students choose to do so. Getting around UC Irvine is easy with the school's ZotWheels, a fleet of blue and gold bicycles that students can pick up and ride to four campus locations. Commuters looking to be more energy efficient can carpool to campus with other students through the university's Zimride Rideshare Community.

The research institution specializes in areas such as cancer and neuroscience studies in conjunction with the highly ranked UC Irvine Medical Center. Graduate programs are highly regarded at UC Irvine, too, with speciality offerings at the Paul Merage School of Business and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering. The university has also earned accolades for its eco-friendly measures, promoting green initiatives through student groups like the Anteaters for Recycling and Conservation. Famous UC-Irvine alumni include former "Saturday Night Live" actor Jon Lovitz, Greg Louganis, four-time Olympic gold medality in diving, and author Alice Sebold, who wrote "The Lovely Bones."

UCI combines the strengths of a major research university with the highly personalized experience of a small college. Over four remarkable decades, we have become internationally recognized for efforts that are improving lives through research and discovery, fostering excellence in scholarship and teaching, and engaging and enriching the community. Times Higher Education magazine ranks UCI as the number one university in the nation and fourth in the world under 50 years of age.

Increasingly a first-choice campus for students, UCI attracted a record nearly 70,000 undergraduate applications for 2012 and admitted freshmen with highly competitive academic profiles.

Our recently launched programs in public policy, public health, and nursing science are critical to California's health and prosperity. Our law school, the state's first public law school to open in more than 40 years, graduated its first class in 2012. In July 2012 the Regents established the UC Irvine School of Education from the existing Department of Education in recognition of its national academic profile.

UCI is a center for quality education and is consistently ranked among the nation's best universities. Achievements in the sciences, arts, humanities, medicine, and management have garnered top 50 national rankings for more than 40 academic programs. Three UCI researchers have won Nobel Prizes two in chemistry and one in physics.

UCI reaches beyond the classroom and laboratory to help solve societal issues and support human development. We are a hub for stem cell research, a trailblazer in understanding global warming, and a leader in the fight against breast cancer. Our nationally ranked medical center in Orange serves as Orange County's only Level I trauma center, and our state-of-the-art UC Irvine Douglas Hospital has been ranked among the country's top 50 hospitals for more than 10 years, providing outstanding care for the region's citizens.

A major intellectual and cultural center, UCI offers numerous public activities and events. The Claire Trevor School of the Arts and the School of Humanities produce engaging and entertaining cultural programs, while UCI's Anteater athletes have won more than two dozen national championships.

UCI is benefiting the community and the world in countless ways through its scholarly, scientific, creative, and economic contributions. Orange County's second largest employer, UCI generates an annual economic impact on the county of $4.3 billion. We have implemented a strategic plan that will ensure that the campus continues to inspire excellence as it fulfills its research, teaching, and public service missions in the decades ahead.

Our actions and interactions are governed by a set of core values: respect, intellectual curiosity, commitment, integrity, empathy, appreciation, and fun. These values allow people to transcend limitations and create something greater than themselves. At UCI we live these values every day.