California Colleges & Universities

California State University

The California State University (CSU) system includes 23 campuses: Bakersfield, Channel Islands, Chico, Dominguez Hills, East Bay, Fresno, Fullerton, Humboldt, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Monterey Bay, Northridge, Pomona, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San José, San Luis Obispo, San Marcos, Sonoma, and Stanislaus. In 2025, the former California State University Maritime Academy became part of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), and is no longer listed as a separate CSU campus.

The CSU system places a high priority on the admission of California community college transfer students who have completed the lower-division requirements for a bachelor's degree, including students applying to impacted majors and campuses.

University of California

University of California offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs in a broad array of subject areas. Almost one third of UC students are transfer students, with nearly 85% transferring from a California Community College.

University of California has a long-established relationship with Skyline College and has developed several special programs to help community college students with the transfer process. The University’s articulation agreements with Skyline College make it possible for prospective transfer students to select appropriate courses. The California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC) allows prospective transfer students to satisfy the lower division breadth/general education requirements of any UC campus before transferring.

The UC system offers 160 academic majors and over 800-degree programs. Each of the UC campuses ranks among the best in the world. The University of California includes nine general campuses: Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. A tenth campus in San Francisco offers graduate and professional programs in the health sciences.

California Independent Colleges and Universities

There are more than 85 privately supported (or independent) degree-granting colleges and universities in California. Independent institutions enroll about one-quarter of all students attending four-year colleges and universities in California. The most distinctive feature of California’s accredited independent colleges and universities is their diversity of character, academic emphasis, and programs.