University of California Accountability Report 2015

Executive Summary

The University of California – The Power of Public

Accountability Report

As part of its transparency efforts, the University of California (UC) annually produces the Accountability Report to provide greater awareness of University operations. The report is a management tool for UC leaders, faculty and staff. It is also intended to be a public document for a broad range of stakeholders with an interest in understanding how the University is performing, including its strengths and areas needing improvement. It also shows the public benefit that comes from state and federal investment in the University. The 2015 Accountability Report illustrates the power of the University of California as an agent of social mobility, economic growth and scientific advancement by describing its role in:

  • Educating California undergraduate, graduate academic, graduate professional and health science students; fostering their skills in critical thinking, analysis and communication; and preparing them to be future leaders, entrepreneurs, teachers and public servants
  • Supporting K-12 education by managing thousands of community-based programs throughout the state designed to improve both the academic skills of students and the professional preparation of teachers
  • Conducting research that promotes economic development and discoveries in such critical areas as water resource management, agricultural sustainability and food security, benefiting the state, the nation and the world
  • Operating five teaching hospitals where nearly 60 percent of patients are covered by Medicare or Medi-Cal, or lack insurance; providing half the state’s organ transplants; serving as the state’s Ebola health care centers and training over half of California’s medical students
  • Harnessing the collective strength of UC’s over $26 billion enterprise to lead on issues of environmental sustainability, including efforts to save water and achieve carbon neutrality

This executive summary highlights findings in the Accountability Report. Each chapter begins with an introductory essay that describes UC operations in that subject area, followed by specific indicators and data visualizations to illustrate trends, provide comparisons and set context. Each chapter also offers links to additional information sources and references the data sources. The full report and executive summary, along with data and visualizations, can be downloaded at http://accountability.universityofcalifornia.edu

Public research universities

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Land-Grant Act, which provided federal lands to the states for what would become the nation’s public research universities. The Morrill Land-Grant Act laid out the future of American public research universities, decreeing that practical fields such as agriculture and the mechanical arts would be taught alongside more traditional liberal arts and sciences. The goal and eventual result of the Morrill Act was to promote the economy of the United States by creating a well-educated technical workforce. 

American public research universities share many of the characteristics of their private peers, including a focus on research and graduate education, and a commitment to undergraduate education provided by active research-based faculty. In addition, they possess a number of distinct characteristics:

  • Public mission: The activities and culture of these universities are driven by values of public service. Research often focuses on issues of particular importance to the state; faculty, in addition to teaching and conducting research, provide expertise to policymakers; educational and cultural programs and services are offered at low or no charge for residents. 
  • Public investment: State support allows universities to charge in-state students less than the cost of their education. This investment in human capital creates a highly skilled workforce, increases participation in democratic institutions and lowers public costs (e.g., social services, corrections).
  • Focus on social mobility: By placing an emphasis on serving undergraduates from all segments of society, these institutions create upward social mobility for the citizens of their state.
  • Size: Public universities tend to be much larger than their private peers and grow in response to enrollment demand and state needs.

The University of California is the world’s premier public research university, and continues to benefit the state and the nation by developing an educated and enlightened citizenry, producing research that supports economic development and critical discoveries, supporting agricultural and public service needs, and producing future health care professionals while providing essential patient care.

The University of California enrolls more than 246,000 students at its 10 campuses. UC produces graduates who meet the state’s critical needs, including the largest proportion of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degrees compared to CSU and private counterparts, and half of California’s medical students and residents. More than 70 percent of bachelor’s degree recipients go on to work in California, as do half of the graduates in academic Ph.D. and master’s programs, and more than 60 percent of professional program graduates. Of UC’s more than 1.6 million living alumni, 1.2 million are California residents.

Student enrollment at the University has quadrupled over the past 50 years.
Undergraduate and graduate student enrollment, with campus opening date, Universitywide, Fall 1868 to 2014

Undergraduate and graduate student enrollment, with campus opening date



Access, affordability and social mobility for undergraduates

Historically, high-quality education in the United States was synonymous with small private colleges clustered in New England and the mid-Atlantic states. For geographic and financial reasons, this education was inaccessible to all but the wealthiest college-bound California students. The founders of the University of California envisioned providing undergraduate education of the same caliber as the nation’s finest private universities but at a cost and scale accessible to students from all walks of life. Access has been a fundamental tenet of the University of California since its inception, and this has enabled social mobility for California residents and fostered the ongoing economic vitality and social benefits associated with an educated population. 

UC maintains its commitment to the California Master Plan for Higher Education by offering freshman admission to every state resident who meets its requirements and applies for admission. 

Over the past two decades, freshman applications have grown almost 5 percent per year, tripling since 1994. UC expects that freshman demand will continue to increase as both the number of high school students and their graduation rates increase, particularly among Latina and Latino students. 

With this growing number of applicants, admission rates have declined at some UC campuses. Despite these trends, all qualified freshman applicants either are admitted to a campus of their choice or receive an offer of admission to another UC campus through UC’s referral process. 

Roughly 30 percent of UC’s incoming undergraduates are California Community College (CCC) transfers. UC’s goal is to increase that to 33 percent by 2017–18. Transfer applicants have almost doubled over the past 20 years, with some fluctuations in the past few years. UC expects that recent state budget surpluses will result in increased funding to the CCCs and create more transfer applicants to UC. In addition, UC President Janet Napolitano’s transfer initiative together with work from the Academic Senate will streamline transfer pathways and likely increase transfer demand.

Affordability is one of UC’s highest priorities. The University provides access to students across the socio-economic spectrum, including a significant percentage of low-income undergraduates who receive assistance through the federal Pell Grant and state Cal Grant programs. The University of California leads the nation’s research universities in the proportion of undergraduates who are low income. Five UC campuses each enroll more low-income students than all eight Ivy League institutions put together. 


UC enrolls a higher percentage of Pell Grant recipients than its peer research universities.
Percentage of undergraduates receiving Pell Grants, 2012–13 (AAU is the Association of American Universities)

 Pell Grant share of undergraduates comparison
UC’s financial aid program considers multiple factors to determine how much parents and independent students can afford. Individual student aid packages will include any available federal, state and University grant aid (such as the Blue & Gold program), and a manageable student “self-help” contribution from work and/or borrowing.

About 45 percent of the most recent graduating class left UC with no debt at all. For those graduating with debt, the average amount was just over $20,600, roughly $5,000 less than the average debt incurred at other public four-year institutions. And it is between $10,000 and $15,000 lower than the average debt for graduates of private nonprofit and for-profit institutions.

UC’s four-year graduation rate for freshmen has risen significantly over the past 12 years — from 46.0 percent for the 1997 entering cohort to 62.5 percent for the 2010 cohort. The most recent six-year graduation rate is 84.0 percent. Transfer entrants have demonstrated similar gains, with the two-year graduation rate increasing from 37.3 percent for the 1997 entering cohort to 55.0 percent for the 2012 cohort. The most recent four-year graduation rate is 87.5 percent. Pell Grant recipients graduate at rates similar to those of all freshman and transfer entrants.

Freshman and transfer graduation rates, including those for Pell Grant recipients, are high and improving.
Graduation rates by entering cohort

Undergraduate graduation rates

UC is actively engaged in efforts to continue to improve undergraduate outcomes. Increasing summer enrollment, for example, is critical to supporting timely graduation, with 9 percent of freshman entrants graduating in the summer of their fourth year. More full-time students are enrolling during summer session, an increase of 22 percent over the past decade.

UC data show that higher education remains one of the best investments an individual and the state can make. For example, within five years of graduating from UC, more than 50 percent of Pell Grant recipients have higher individual earnings than their entire family’s income prior to their enrollment. Overall, incomes of UC bachelor’s degree recipients double between two and ten years after graduation.

Graduate Programs and Doctoral Research

The California Master Plan charges UC with the responsibility for preparing graduate academic and professional degree students to help meet the workforce needs of the state and the nation. Graduate education at UC is ranked at the highest levels among the country’s leading universities. One of the keys to successful graduate academic and graduate professional programs is recruitment of outstanding students. These students support the academic and research enterprise by serving as graduate student instructors and graduate student researchers. The quality of UC’s graduate students is also a critical factor in retaining faculty in many academic disciplines. 

In 2015, 18 UC graduate students received Sloan Research Fellowship awards, which recognize early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars. More than 20 UC Ph.D.s have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes. Though graduate enrollment has grown, commensurate growth in undergraduates has kept the share of graduate enrollment relatively steady over the past 14 years. Just over 20 percent of UC students are graduate students. Ten percent are in academic doctoral programs.

Graduate enrollment, as a share of UC’s total undergraduate and graduate enrollment, has remained relatively steady over the past 15 years.

Graduate degree programs, share of total enrollment, Universitywide, Fall 1999–2014

Share of enrollment by level 
More than 25,000 graduates of UC’s academic Ph.D. and master’s programs (in fields other than engineering/computer science) have entered the California workforce since 2000. Half of them have gone on to participate in the state’s higher-education workforce, which includes all of the two-year and four-year colleges and universities, both public and private. This highlights the critical role of UC’s graduate academic programs in producing the cadre of faculty who teach California’s future college-educated workforce and conduct research that advances the state and national economies. More than 12 percent of the employed graduates of UC physical sciences and life sciences programs work in the state’s manufacturing sector, while another 25 percent work in the engineering industry. This shows that the skills gained in UC’s academic Ph.D. and master’s programs are both applicable and relevant to key high-tech industries.

Distinguished Faculty TEACH FOR CALIFORNIA, RESEARCH FOR THE WORLD

UC faculty have won Nobel Prizes nearly every year for the past decade. In all, 61 UC faculty have won Nobel Prizes, ranking the university system fifth in comparison to other countries for the number of Prizes awarded. More than 580 faculty are members of the National Academy of Sciences; more than 500 are American Academy of Science members; and more than 200 are Institute of Medicine members. The state of California expects UC faculty not only to teach undergraduate and graduate students but also to spend a substantial portion of time undertaking research, creative activity and public service. 

The UC faculty are a rich source of innovation, discovery and mentorship. The state investment in dedicated research faculty produces quantifiable public dividends: UC faculty attract federal and private research funding equivalent to four to five times what they are paid in salary and benefits. These revenues directly benefit California’s economy, while the research itself contributes even more value in the form of indirect and intangible social, cultural and economic benefits.

Among UC faculty, the proportion of women and underrepresented minorities (URMs) continues to grow. With just over 31 percent female faculty, 9 percent URM and almost 4 percent URM women, UC compares favorably to its peer institutions.

Teaching and Learning for UC Students and other californians

By educating (not merely instructing) vast numbers of Californians at an elite level, UC helps develop California residents who can think critically, understand and assess complex issues, and contribute to the culture of the state. UC has more than 150 academic disciplines and over 600 graduate degree programs. UC confers more doctoral degrees per tenured/tenure-track faculty than the average at public American Association of Universities (AAU) peers, and is on par with private AAU peers.

Most UC instruction is provided by full-time permanent faculty. This means that even undergraduates have opportunities to participate in research: More than 80 percent of seniors complete a research project or paper as part of their coursework, and more than 40 percent assist faculty in their research. 

UC undergraduates report significant growth in their academic skills over the course of their college education. Ninety-five percent of seniors who earned a bachelor’s degree reported good to excellent skills in understanding their field of study upon graduation, compared to just 33 percent in their first year at UC; 94 percent of seniors reported strong analytical and critical-thinking skills, up from 54 percent as freshmen; and 91 percent of seniors reported good to excellent writing skills, up from 54 percent in their freshman year.

In addition to traditional classroom and regular term instruction, UC is offering more classes using online technology. All UC campuses are expanding online courses, and the Innovative Learning Technology Initiative (ILTI) at the UC Office of the President (UCOP) currently has 72 online courses available for cross-campus enrollment, with 25 more courses in development. To date, more than 8,000 UC undergraduate students have completed online courses funded and built through UCOP and ILTI efforts. Finally, UC offers over 440 extension programs that enroll over 300,000 adult professionals and continuing education students. 

Research Activities spurring economic growth and critical discoveries

Throughout the past 50 years, the research and development (R&D) that private industry once supported has shifted to research universities. Today, American research universities account for a large part of the nation’s R&D expenditures, one of the key drivers of the nation’s economy. Universities account for about 60 percent of all U.S. basic research expenditures. The estimated $63 billion spent on U.S. academic research in 2014 is greater than the “total whole country” R&D expenditures for all but five countries. 

Academic research results in new discoveries, some of which have formed the basis for new industries. Thus, American research universities are essential to creating new jobs in the U.S., particularly the high-wage, high-skill jobs that arise from an economy dependent on innovation. UC’s research enterprise is a powerhouse of innovation and discovery, and its overarching commitment is to create public benefit from UC research endeavors. 

The University operates more than 800 research centers, institutes, laboratories and programs distributed over 10 campuses, five medical centers, three national energy laboratories, 39 Natural Reserve sites and numerous specialized research facilities. UC researchers reported more than 1,700 new inventions in 2014, and during that same year, UC inventions launched over 70 startup companies in California and generated $118 million in royalty and fee income. UC has more than 12,500 active U.S. patents from its inventions — more than any other university in the country — and 840 startups have been founded on UC patents since 1976.

UC’s research activities provide clear and substantial benefit for the state of California and beyond. UC researchers have been called upon to share insights on how to adapt water consumption to drought conditions; develop energy alternatives; create greater understanding of the aging process; preserve indigenous languages; improve high school graduation rates; and develop effective therapies and treatments that can enhance global health. UC’s performance in meeting its research goals can be assessed in a variety of ways. One widely used indicator of research activity is the dollar amount expended each year for research. Research expenditures at UC nearly doubled over the past 15 years to more than $4.3 billion, mostly fueled by federal funds. UC performs nearly one-tenth of all the academic research and development conducted in the U.S.

UC research expenditures have nearly doubled over the past 15 years.
Growth in research expenditures 1999–2000 to 2012–13, adjusted for inflation
Growth in research expenditures

UC’s IMPACT ON CALIFORNIA AND public service activities 

UC’s direct impact on the state of California extends well beyond its campuses and laboratories, and touches virtually every community throughout the state. Undergraduate and graduate students are drawn to UC from every region. The University awards nearly one-third of California’s bachelor’s degrees. University alumni, faculty, staff and other employees reside in every county, contributing to the local economy and community activities. Beyond the impacts of its graduates, UC’s public service activities contribute significantly to the state’s growth and well-being. UC’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) is the bridge between local issues and the power of the University of California. ANR manages the state’s Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) and Cooperative Extension (CE) system. ANR works with communities and industry to enhance agricultural markets, address environmental concerns, protect plant health, offer hands-on science-based learning for youth, promote youth development and provide farmers with scientifically tested production techniques.

Currently, ANR encompasses nine research and extension centers and 57 CE offices throughout California, housing 700 academic researchers, about 200 locally based CE advisors, about 130 campus-based CE specialists and six statewide programs. UC’s public service mission includes extensive environmental stewardship activities. One example of this is the management of natural reserve lands that encompass most of the state ecosystems. The UC Natural Reserve System comprises 39 sites with more than 756,000 acres across California, providing undisturbed environments for students and faculty members to conduct research and enhancing students’ opportunities to engage in meaningful educational experiences.
Promoting healthy outcomes for all Californians is an important focus of UC’s public service mission. In addition to more than 1,000 community partnership programs promoting health and nutrition, UC’s medical centers maintain long-term institutional partnerships that address the needs of specific populations. For example, the five UC medical centers work with regional Veterans Affairs Health Care systems to address health issues of particular concern to veterans.

For more than 40 years, the University of California’s Student Academic Preparation and Educational Partnership (SAPEP) has helped prepare California students across all levels of education and increase their access to higher education institutions. SAPEP programs such as the Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP); Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA); and the Puente Project are designed to improve academic preparation for all students in a variety of disciplines. UC plays an important role in providing ongoing professional development in education, law, health and other programs. 

This interactive map illustrates UC’s impact across the state. Clearly, UC’s reach goes far beyond its ten campuses to affect all Californians. http://ucal.us/maps/

UC Health: Developing Health Care Professionals and Medical Research

Under the California Master Plan, UC is the only state public institution chartered to grant the medical degrees of D.D.S. (Doctor of Dental Science), M.D. (Doctor of Medicine), O.D. (Doctor of Optometry), Pharm.D. (Doctor of Pharmacy) and D.V.M. (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine). The University also provides doctoral education leading to Ph.D. degrees in Nursing and Public Health, as well as the D.P.H. (Doctor of Public Health) degree.UC operates the largest health sciences instructional program in the nation, enrolling more than 14,000 students annually. The systemwide instructional program includes six schools of medicine and three smaller medical education programs; three schools of nursing and one program in nursing science; two schools each of dentistry, pharmacy and public health; and one school each of optometry and veterinary medicine. 

The University of California’s five academic medical centers (Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco) provide a vast resource for the clinical training programs of UC health professional schools. These centers prepare future generations of health professionals (training nearly half of the medical students and residents in the state), drive major advances in biomedical and clinical research, and serve as California’s fourth-largest health care delivery system, with about 42,000 employees, including approximately 12,000 nurses. UC medical centers also perform thousands of clinical trials each year, resulting in new drugs and disease treatments.

UC medical centers annually manage nearly 159,000 inpatient admissions, 334,000 emergency room visits and nearly 4.2 million outpatient visits. Nearly 60 percent of UC patients are covered by Medicare or Medi-Cal, or lack health insurance. UC medical centers tend to treat patients who are more seriously ill than those at other medical centers in California. UC staffs five major trauma centers, provides half of California’s organ transplants and one-fourth of its extensive burn care. 

 Staffing trends

As of fall 2014, UC employed 140,000 non-academic staff (equivalent to 103,000 full-time employees) across a wide range of occupational categories, including doctors, nurses and other health care staff; research administration and laboratory staff; student services staff; food and auxiliary services staff; maintenance and physical plant staff; and management and clerical staff.Since 2007, UC staff growth has been concentrated in health sciences, due to the increasing demand for health care, most notably the growth in Medi-Cal and other government programs. Ninety-seven percent of health science staff are supported by revenue from medical center operations and other non-state funds.

Despite a 6 percent growth in general campus staff, the number supported by core funds (state funds and tuition) has decreased over this period. In addition, the number of executives has declined and general campus growth is largely in technical, professional and support staff supported by non-core funds.

Staff growth is focused in the health sciences.
Growth in staff, October 2007 to 2014

Staff growth, health science, students and general campus non-students


PROMOTING DIVERSITY

Over time, UC’s undergraduate students have become increasingly diverse. In January 2015, UC Santa Barbara became the first member of the Association of American Universities to be designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) with at least 25 percent Hispanic undergraduate enrollment. Three other campuses – UC Riverside, UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced – are already HSIs, and UC Irvine and UC Davis expect to reach this milestone soon.Underrepresented populations show slow and steady growth within the ranks of UC academic graduate programs across disciplines, with growth in international students primarily in physical science and engineering. Female students constitute the majority in all disciplines except for physical science and engineering.

Graduate professional programs show similar growth patterns for underrepresented and international students, with variation by discipline. Education programs have a larger proportion of underrepresented students, and business and other professional programs have growing international populations. The proportion of female students is trending slightly downward but remains around 50 percent or higher for all disciplines except business. For staff, the proportions of nonwhites and females in Management & Senior Professional (MSP) and Senior Management Group (SMG) positions are smaller than their proportions in Professional & Support Staff (PSS) positions. The proportion of females among ladder-rank faculty is lower than proportions among other academic employee groupings.

 Building a Sustainable Financial Model

UC seeks to develop reliable sources of revenues, including a strong investment from the state and a stable and predictable tuition model.Totaling about $25 billion in 2013–14, the University’s revenues fund its core mission and a wide range of support activities, including teaching hospitals, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Extension, as well as an array of self-supporting auxiliary services such as campus housing and dining services, parking and bookstores.

Prior to 2010–11, state funding was the largest single source of support for the University’s educational mission. Over the past ten years, state educational appropriations have fallen more than $1 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars despite UC’s enrollment growth. State educational appropriations constituted only 9 percent of UC’s operating budget in 2013–14 compared to 23 percent in 2001–02; the growth in tuition and fees has not compensated for those losses. 

While UC has worked on increasing revenues from other sources, such as medical centers, contracts and grants, and private giving, those funds tend to be restricted and not available to support educational operations. For example, 99 percent of donor gifts are restricted in how they may be used. State funding and tuition and fees tend to be unrestricted. As these fund sources become more constrained, so does the University’s flexibility to direct funds where needed. 

The University has moved aggressively to reduce operating costs. Yet even under the most optimistic assumptions, efficiency improvements and alternative revenue generation can offset only a portion of the budget shortfalls projected over the next few years. Much of UC’s 2015–16 budget development has focused on encouraging the state to reinvest in UC, providing predictable increases in tuition for students and their families, and continuing UC’s agreement to reduce operating costs. 

Addressing Capital Needs and Promoting Sustainability

UC maintains more than 5,800 buildings enclosing 130 million square feet on approximately 30,000 acres on its ten campuses, five medical centers, nine agricultural research and extension centers, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. These facilities include classrooms, laboratories, museums, concert halls, galleries and other facilities. With such a substantial infrastructure, the University strives to be a good steward of the capital resources entrusted to its care. Historically, the majority of UC’s core academic infrastructure projects were funded by the state. However, over the past decade, the state’s contribution has fallen to about 15 percent, and external financing now plays a dominant role. During fiscal year 2013–14, UC spent about $1.3 billion on capital projects, with nearly two-thirds of this amount funded by external financing. The majority of these projects were aimed at the capital requirements of core academic programs and aging facilities. 

The University is a national leader in sustainability and strives to reduce greenhouse gases to mitigate climate change. In November 2013, President Napolitano announced an initiative for UC to become the first research university to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025. 

Successful sustainability efforts noted in Chapter 13 of this year’s report include $138 million in cumulative avoided energy costs via Energy Efficiency Partnership projects; 23 megawatts of on-site renewable electrical generation (installed or under contract); and 191 LEED certifications, the most of any higher education institution in the country. 

Furthermore, Princeton Review ranked four UC campuses — UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis — in the top 50 green campuses, and UC Santa Barbara was number one among public universities.

How UC Ranks

UC provides its students, many of them low income, with access to an educational and research environment that is among the best in the world. This high-quality experience comes in large part from the excellence and recognition of UC’s faculty. Over the past decade, UC has celebrated a faculty member receiving a Nobel Prize on almost an annual basis, with 61 faculty in total for the UC system, which ranks fifth in comparison to other countries. UC does not endorse nor does it set goals tied to any particular set of rankings. However, these rankings, although limited in scope, can give an indication of an institution’s overall academic quality and the public perception of performance, relative to other academic peers.
UC campuses rate highly in many rankings, including:

  • Five of the top ten national public universities in US News and World Report rankings
  • Four of the top five in Washington Monthly’s national university rankings
  • Top four public universities in the top 20 in Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Academic Rankings of World Universities
  • Top two public universities in the top 20 in Times Higher Education ranking. 

UC Merced was founded too recently to be reflected in these national ranking systems. 

U.S. News: America’s Top National Public Universities

 
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Berkeley
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Los Angeles
4
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
San Diego
8
8
7
7
7
8
8
9
8
Davis
13
11
12
11
9
9
8
9
9
Santa Barbara
13
13
12
11
9
10
10
11
10
Irvine
12
13
12
14
11
13
12
14
11
Santa Cruz
33
35
45
29
29
31
32
36
35
Riverside
39
45
40
43
41
41
46
55
55

Washington Monthly: National University Ranking

 
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
San Diego
8
6
4
n/a
2
1
1
1
1
1
Riverside
-
22
15
n/a
16
40
5
9
2
2
Berkeley
3
2
3
n/a
1
2
3
5
5
3
Los Angeles
2
4
2
n/a
3
3
2
6
10
5
Santa Barbara
-
57
36
n/a
21
11
13
14
22
15
Davis
17
10
8
n/a
10
6
8
17
23
16
Santa Cruz
--
68
76
n/a
56
93
70
67
65
79
Irvine
--
72
49
n/a
44
50
60
117
84
83

Washington Monthly did not publish rankings for 2008.

The University of California redefines what it means to be a public university. UC community members — educators, researchers, staff and students — are passionately committed to UC’s mission of teaching, research and public service, and its contributions to California, which include:

  • UC enrolls freshmen and transfer students from every county in California.
  • UC has more than 1.6 million living alumni, 1.2 million of whom are California residents.
  • UC operates more than 3,000 academic skills programs for K-12 students throughout the state, and almost 4,500 teacher preparation programs and workshops.
  • UC produces graduates that meet the state’s critical workforce needs, including a larger proportion of STEM degrees compared to CSU and private counterparts, and half of California’s medical students and residents.
  • UC enables social mobility: Within five years of graduating from UC, more than 50 percent of Pell Grant recipients have higher individual earnings than their pre-UC family income. 
  • UC researchers are called upon to share insights on how to adapt to drought conditions, search for energy alternatives, preserve indigenous languages, assess innovative educational methods and develop effective therapies and treatments that enhance global health.
  • UC inventions launched more than 70 startup companies in California in 2014 alone.
  • UC’s agricultural experiment stations and cooperative extension offices are in virtually every California county, providing communities and industry with the expertise to enhance agricultural markets, address environmental concerns and help farmers deploy scientifically tested production techniques.
  • UC medical centers manage about 159,000 inpatient admissions; 334,000 emergency room visits; and 4.2 million outpatient visits each year, with nearly 60 percent of patients covered by Medicare or Medi-Cal, or uninsured.
  • UC operates five major trauma centers and provides half of all the state’s organ transplants and one-fourth of care for extensive burns.