The University of California at Irvine

The UC Irvine Campus

UC Irvine is part of the 10-campus University of California system, one of the largest and most acclaimed institutions of higher learning in the world. Since its founding in 1965, UC Irvine has combined the strengths of a major research university with the bounty of an incomparable Southern California location. With more than 1,200 faculty members, 7,900 staff and 23,000 students, UC Irvine is the fourth-largest campus in the University of California system and Orange County’s second-largest employer. UC Irvine is consistently ranked among the nation's best public universities.

UC Irvine is distinguished by a spirit of innovation and is renowned for strengths in research and education. UC Irvine became the first public university with faculty receiving Nobel Prizes in two different fields– chemistry and physics–in the same year. Alumni include Pulitzer Prize winners, state legislators, prominent scientists, Olympic athletes and some of the nation’s most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Consistently ranked among the nation's best public universities, UCI's strengths in the sciences are balanced by its strengths in the humanities, arts, social sciences and business. Many of these programs are represented in the National Research Council's rankings of top graduate programs, including six graduate programs in the humanities that are among the top 25. The Paul Merage School of Business is ranked 5th in the nation in faculty intellectual capital by BusinessWeek. It is also ranked 4th in Information Technology by the Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive, and in the top 60 internationally by Financial Times.

University Research Park

UC Irvine students find a wealth of employment opportunities in the thriving business region surrounding the campus. A special advantage is UC Irvine’s proximity to University Research Park, located next to the campus. The research park includes such firms as America Online, Cisco Systems, AltaVista and McKinsey & Co., and eventually will provide 2.4 million square feet of office space for 80 to 100 companies with a total of about 10,000 employees. The park attracts companies interested in hiring UC Irvine students and collaborating with faculty on research projects.

Campus Views

The best way to get acquainted with UC Irvine is by visiting, but you can get a feel for what it's like here by taking a virtual tour.

Irvine and Coastal Areas

The city of Irvine is consistently rated among the top five of America's safest cities, and takes pride in its accessibility to a wide variety of cultural, sporting and business opportunities. Located approximately half way between Los Angeles and San Diego and an hour from local mountain ski resorts, the UC Irvine campus is just ten minutes away from the coastal communities of Hungtington Beach, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. Students wanting to relax can enjoy many facets of the California lifestyle. Take a break right now and view the webcam on the Huntington Beach Pier, known world-wide as Surf City, USA.