University of California, Irvine

Founded in 1965, UCI has become one of the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system.

Since 1965, the University of California, Irvine, UCI, has combined 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 local, national and global communities in many ways.

Among universities under 50 years of age Times Higher Education ranked UCI the 4th in the world and the 1st in the US for 2012; the 5th in the world and the 1st in the US for 2013; the 7th in the world and the 1st in the US in 2014 and the 7th in the world and the 1st in the US in 2015.

Money Magazine ranked UC Irvine the 13th in the country and the 3rd among public colleges out of the nearly 1500 schools it evaluated for its 2015 Best Colleges ranking. 

For 2017, U.S. News & World Report ranked UC Irvine tied for the 39th among national universities and the 9th among public universities in the U.S.

In 2016, Forbes ranked UCI the 10th on its Best Value Colleges list based on its tuition costs, school quality, graduation success rates and post-grad earnings.

Notable alumni of UCI include athletes - Steve Scott, Scott Brooks, Greg Louganis and 34 Olympians, Broadway, film, and television actors - Bob Gunton, James LeGros, Jon Lovitz, Brian Thompson, Teal Wicks, Windell Middlebrooks, educators - Erin Gruwell), international concert pianist and arts entrepreneur Kevin Kwan Loucks, astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson and technological innovators - Roy Fielding, Paul Mockapetris, and Patrick J. Hanratty. Three faculty members have been honored with the Nobel Prize.

UC Irvine's academic units are referred to as Schools. As of the 2016, there are twelve Schools, two Programs, one Department, and various interdisciplinary programs.

In addition, many of UCI's graduate programs consistently receive top-50 rankings from U.S. News & World Report: 

• earning distinction in literary criticism and theory - #3, 
• criminology - #5, 
• law - clinical training - #11, 
• organic chemistry - #12, 
• English, chemistry, sociology, computer science, physics - #22- 29, 
• psychology,  law, education, biological sciences, earth sciences, history, engineering - #30 -37, 
• political science, mathematics, medicine-research, economics  - #40 - 46.