University of California

About the University of California, Davis

The University of California, Davis (also referred to as UCD, UC Davis, or Davis), is a public research university and one of the 10 campuses of the University of California (UC) system. It is located in Davis, California, just west of Sacramento, and has the third-largest enrollment in the UC System after UCLA and UC Berkeley. The university has been labeled one of the "Public Ivies," a publicly funded university considered to provide a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League.

The Carnegie Foundation classifies UC Davis as a comprehensive doctoral research university with a medical program, and very high research activity. The UC Davis faculty includes 23 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 25 members of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences, 17 members of the American Law Institute, 14 members of the Institute of Medicine, and 14 members of the National Academy of Engineering. Among other honors, university faculty, alumni, and researchers have won the Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Pulitzer Prize, MacArthur Fellowship, National Medal of Science, Blue Planet Prize, and Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

The university has expanded over the past century to include graduate and professional programs in medicine (which includes theUC Davis Medical Center), law, veterinary medicine, education, nursing, and business management, in addition to 90 research programs offered by UC Davis Graduate Studies. The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine is the largest in the United States and has been ranked first in the nation for two consecutive years, 2015 and 2016.

The UC Davis Aggies athletic teams compete in the NCAA Division I level, primarily in the Big West Conference as well as the Big Sky Conference (football only) and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. In its first year of full Division I status, 11 UC Davis teams qualified for NCAA post-season competition.

• 1908: The Farm School launches the first farmers’ short courses, similar to intensive extension classes of today.
• 1909: After University Farm School opens in January with 18 students, in May, more than 2,200 people attend the first Picnic Day.
• 1916: Animals from the University Farm herd sweep championships at the Chicago International Livestock Show.
• 1922: A four-year degree program is established, and the Davis campus is renamed the Northern Branch of the College of Agriculture. 
• 1938: The campus is renamed the College of Agriculture at Davis. One hundred and six courses are taught by 76 faculty.
• 1940: The Division of Chemistry acquires the first patents for the entire University of California.
• 1946: The School of Veterinary Medicine is established. 
• 1949: Graduate degrees are awarded at a campus commencement.
• 1959: The regents designate UC Davis and UC Riverside general campuses.
• 1965: The School of Law opens.
• 1966: The School of Medicine opens.
• 1975: The veterinary school is ranked first in the nation by a national survey of deans.
• 1977: A 10-year purchase agreement with the UC Davis Medical Center is signed with Sacramento County for its county hospital.
• 1981: The Graduate School of Management opens as the Graduate School of Administration.
• 1989: The campus leads the nation in the number of Ph.D.s awarded in the biological sciences.
• 1990: The football team wins its 20th consecutive league championship, a national record.
• 1998: Men’s basketball team wins NCAA DII national championship.
• 2002:  First vaccine for cat AIDS approved for veterinary use. Agricultural research funding leads the nation.
• 2008: UC Davis receives $16 million Gates Foundation grant to support research toprevent childhood malnutrition.
• 2009: The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing opens.
• 2009: UC Davis leads the identification and control of diseases that move between wildlife and people through a global early warning system.
• 2012:  UC Davis is recognized for its sustainability and climate change efforts, ranking asSierra Magazine’s “Coolest School.”
• 2016: QS World University Rankings recognizes UC Davis as being 1st in veterinary medicine in the world. 

Accreditation

Institutional Accreditation or Recognition - WASC Senior College and University Commission

Rankings

UC Davis is highly ranked in the nation and the world, according to influential university ranking publications like U.S. News & World Report, QS World University Rankings, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and The Princeton Review.

The Wall Street Journal recognized UC Davis as the sixth-best public university in the United States in its inaugural Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Ranking (2016).

Interested in rankings by graduate program? See our graduate rankings below.

Graduate academic program rankings

Agriculture

• 1st in agricultural sciences (Thomson Reuters ScienceWatch 2011) 
• 2nd in agriculture and forestry (QS World University Rankings 2016)
• 2nd in agriculture (U.S. News & World Report’s “2015 Best Global Universities”)
• 2nd in plant sciences (U.S. News & World Report’s “2015 Best Global Universities”)

Animal behavior

• 2nd in animal sciences (U.S. News & World Report’s “2015 Best Global Universities”)

Anthropology

• Between 7th and 21st among 82 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Biological sciences

• Biological sciences

• • 19th in (U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate” 2015) 
  • 31st (QS World University Rankings 2016 

• Biology and biochemistry

  • 32nd (U.S. News & World Report’s “2015 Best Global Universities”)

• Cell and developmental biology

  • Between 42nd and 100th among 122 programs for (National Research Council 2010)

• Ecology/evolutionary biology

  • 3rd (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2015);between 5th and 28th among 94 programs (National Research Council 2010)

• Microbiology

  • Between 16th and 44th among 74 programs in (National Research Council 2010)

• Molecular biology and genetics

  • 36th (U.S. News & World Report’s “2015 Best Global Universities”)

• Neuroscience and behavior

  • 47th (U.S. News & World Report’s “2015 Best Global Universities”)

• Population biology

  • Between 4th and 24th among 94 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Business and economics

• Between 2nd and 4th among 28 programs in agricultural and resource economics (National Research Council 2010)

• Economics

  • 32nd (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2014)
  • Between 29th and 44th among 117 programs (National Research Council 2010)

• Graduate School of Management

  • 7th among Top 10 Business Schools Where It's Hard to Be Admitted (U.S. News & World Report 2016)
  • 45th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2017)
  • 30th for part-time MBA program (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2017)
  • Among the top 40 in the U.S., and the top 70 in the world (The Economist 2014 “Which MBA?”)
  • 15th worldwide for faculty quality (The Economist 2014 “Which MBA?”)

Chemistry

• Agricultural and environmental chemistry, between 31st and 90th among 178 programs  (National Research Council 2010)
• Chemistry
  • 35th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2015)
  • Between 30th and 88th among 178 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Comparative literature

• Between 14th and 28th among 46 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Composition

• Among the top 17 universities for writing across the disciplines (U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 “America’s Best Colleges”)

Earth sciences

• 20th in earth sciences (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2015)
• 34th in earth and marine sciences (QS World University Rankings 2016)
• Between 46th and 95th among 140 programs in geology (National Research Council 2010)

Engineering

• 33rd best College of Engineering (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2017)

• Aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical 

  • 26th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools 2016”)

• Biomedical/bioengineering

  • 7th in biological/agricultural (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2017)
  • 22nd (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2016)
  • Between 26th and 54th among 74 programs (National Research Council 2010)

• Chemical engineering

  • 30th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2016)
  • Between 15th and 41st among 106 programs (National Research Council 2010)

• Civil engineering

  • Between 6th and 37th among 130 in civil and environmental engineering (National Research Council 2010) 
  • 12th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2016)
  • 39th worldwide (2016 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, ShanghaiRankings)

• Computer engineering

  • 33th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2016)

• Computer science

• • Between 15th and 51st among 126 programs (National Research Council 2010)
  • 34th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2015)
  • 48th (U.S. News & World Reports “2015 Best Global Universities”)

• Electrical

  • 41st tied in electrical/electronic/communications (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2016

• Environmental engineering

  • 13th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2016)
  • 29th worldwide (2016 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, ShanghaiRankings)

• Materials science

  • 28th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2016)
  • Between 7th and 31st among 83 programs (National Research Council 2010)

• Mechanical

  • 35th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2016)
  • Between 55th and 99th among 127 programs (National Research Council 2010)

English

• 26th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2014)
• Between 44th and 75th among 119 (National Research Council 2010)

Entomology

• Between 1st and 7th among 28 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Epidemiology

• Between 29th and 70th among 91 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Environmental sciences

• 1st in ecology and the environment (Thomson Reuters ScienceWatch 2011) 
• 4th in environment/ecology (U.S. News & World Report’s “2015 Best Global Universities”)
• 13th (QS World University Rankings 2016)

Fine arts

• 12th in ceramics (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2013)
• 21st (Top 100 Fine Arts College Ranking in 2010, U.S. College Rankings)
• 27th in fine arts (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2013)

Food science

• 1st in food science and nutrition (Thomson Reuters ScienceWatch 2010)
• Between 1st and 15st among 44 programs in nutritional biology (National Research Council 2010)
• Between 4th and 17th among 31 programs (National Research Council 2010)

French

• Between 22nd and 34th among 43 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Genetics

• Between 28th and 56th among 65 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Geography

• Between 10th and 30th among 49 programs (National Research Council 2010)

History

• 27th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2014)
  • 9th in U.S. colonial history
• Between 40th and 68th among 137 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Immunology

• Between 17th and 56th among 78 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Law

• 25th best School of Law according to national law school deans and faculty
• 31st of almost 200 American Bar Association-approved law schools (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2016)

Mathematics

• 34th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2015)
• Between 9th and 33rd among 127 programs (National Research Council 2010)

• Applied mathematics

  • Between 4th and 15th among 33 programs (National Research Council 2010)

• Topology

  • 13th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools 2013”)

Medicine

• 15th in rural medicine (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2013)
• 37th in primary care (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2017)
• 47th in research (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2017)

Music

• Between 12th and 28th among 63 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Neuroscience

• Between 25th and 69th among 94 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Pathology

• Between 26th and 54th among 78 programs in comparative pathology (National Research Council 2010)

Performance studies

• Between 4th and 16th among 27 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Pharmacology and toxicology

• Between 19th and 77th among 116 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Physics

• 29th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2015)
• Between 31st and 90th among 161 programs (National Research Council 2010)

• Biophysics

  • Between 28th and 100th among 159 programs: (National Research Council 2010)

Physiology

• Between 19th and 48th among 63 programs in molecular, cellular and integrative: (National Research Council 2010)

Plant science

• Between 5th and 29th among 116 programs in plant biology (National Research Council 2010) 
• Between 7th and 42th among 116 programs  in plant pathology (National Research Council 2010)

Political science

• Between 7th and 26th among 105 programs (National Research Council 2010)
• 23rd (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2014)

• Comparative politics  

  • 15th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2014)

• Political methodology

  • 15th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2014)

Psychology

• 21st (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2014)
• Between 21st and 57th among 236 programs (National Research Council 2010)

• Psychiatry/psychology

  • 35th tied (U.S. News & World Report’s “2015 Best Global Universities”)

Sociology

• 31st (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2014)
• Between 48th and 77th among 118 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Spanish

• Between 1st and 6th among 60 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Statistics

• 27th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2015)
• Between 12th and 24th among 61 programs (National Research Council 2010)

Transportation

• Between 32nd and 95th among 130 programs in transportation technology and policy (National Research Council 2010)

Veterinary medicine

• 1st for veterinary science (QS World University Rankings 2016)
• 1st among the nation’s veterinary schools (U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” 2016)

Student life @the University of California, Davis

The undergraduate student government of UC Davis is the Associated Students of UC Davis (ASUCD), and has an annual operating budget of 11.1 million dollars, making it one of the largest-funded student governments in the United States. ASUCD includes an Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch. Other than representing the student body on campus, the task of ASUCD is to lobby student interests to local and state government. Also under the purview of ASUCD are the student-run Coffee House is an ASUCD unit andUnitrans, the Davis public bus system. ASUCD employs thousands of students annually across its many units.

Picnic Day, UC Davis's annual Open House, is the largest student-run event in the United States. It attracts thousands of visitors each year with its many attractions. These include a parade, a magic show performed by the chemistry department, the Doxie Derby (dachshund races), film screenings, and a Battle of the Bands between the Band and other college bands including the Cal Band, theStanford Band, and the Humboldt State Marching Band.

Another highlight of UC Davis is its student-run freeform radio station, KDVS. The station began operations on February 1, 1964 from the laundry room of the all-male dormitory Beckett Hall. The station soon gained a reputation by airing interviews with Angela Davis and a live call-in show with then California Governor Ronald Reagan in 1969. The station can now be heard on 90.3 FM and online at its website.

UC Davis has over 500 registered student organizations, ranging from political clubs to professional societies to language clubs.

The academic Graduate Students and management students are represented by the Graduate Student Association (GSA). The Law Students are represented by Law Students Association.

Students are also encouraged to wear Aggie Blue on game days to show their Aggie Pride. If spotted wearing Aggie Blue by the Aggie Pack, students may have UC Davis paraphernalia thrown at them as a reward.

Students also participate in intramural sports such as basketball, ultimate frisbee, soccer and many more. The ARC contains a basketball gym, work out room, rock climbing wall, and other studio rooms for group exercise.

Other student activities:

• Unitrans, the student run (and driven) bus system.
• The Coffee House, also known as the CoHo, is a student run restaurant serving 7000 customers daily.
• The Bike Barn, a bicycle shop that sells and rents bicycles and cycling equipment, also operating a repair shop.
• KDVS, student radio.
• The Entertainment Council, responsible for bringing famous musicians to campus and organizing student events.
• US Post Office, a completely student-run official United States Postal Service Contract Station.

Transportation

Bicyclists are ubiquitous around campus as well as the city, and thus a lot of bike-only infrastructure exists, such as bike circles, large bike lanes, and traffic signals exclusively for bikes and the UC Davis cycling team has won several national championship titles. The campus police department also has some of its officers patrol on bicycles and take bicycling under the influence ("BUI") and bicycling without a headlight at night very seriously. All bikes on the UC Davis campus must be registered with a California Bicycle license or they risk being sold at the on campus bike auction.

UC Davis is also well known for its bus service, Unitrans, and its trademark London double decker buses. It has been in operation since 1968 and is believed to be the only general purpose (non-sightseeing) transit system in the U.S. to operate vintage double deck buses in daily service. The system is operated and managed entirely by students and offers fixed-route transportation throughout the city. There is also an inter-campus bus service[98] that ferries back and forth between UC Davis and UC Berkeley twice daily, from Monday to Friday. Davis is also one of the busiest stations of the Capitol Corridor intercity railroad service operated by Amtrak between the Bay Area and Sacramento.

The central campus is bounded by freeways on two sides (Highway 113 and Interstate 80). All other UC campuses are either somewhat distant from the closest freeway or are directly adjacent to only one freeway. Two freeway exits are entirely within UCD's boundaries. One, off Highway 113, is signed "UC Davis / Hutchison Drive" and the other, off Interstate 80, is signed exclusively as "UC Davis."

Easy freeway access, coupled with increasing housing costs in the city of Davis, have led to increased numbers of students commuting via automobile. Some students choose to live in the neighboring communities of Sacramento, Dixon or Woodland, and use their own cars or the county-wide Yolobus to get to UC Davis.

The California Aggie

UC Davis also publishes a weekly student newspaper, The California Aggie. The Aggie was first published in 1915 as the Weekly Agricolaafter its approval by the Associated Student Executive Committee. At this point, UC Davis was considered the University Farm, an extension of UC Berkeley.

Initially, the Weekly Agricola was focused on both student news and farming-related topics. Novelist Jack London was one of the first readers of the Weekly Agricola. In 1922, it was renamed to match the school's athletic name. As of March 2014, the Aggie is no longer in print but is still published via its website. 

Greek life

Social fraternities and sororities have been a part of the University of California at Davis since 1913. Approximately 8% of the university's undergraduate students are involved in the school's fraternities and sororities. One sorority, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, was featured during the first season of the MTV reality show Sorority Life.

There are currently 21 social fraternities that are a part of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) in Davis. The IFC representatives attend weekly meetings to guarantee that all UC Davis rules and regulations are followed. The meetings are also used to inform the fraternities about all upcoming activities throughout the week. The 21 fraternities are: Alpha Epsilon Pi, Alpha Gamma Omega, Alpha Gamma Rho, Alpha Sigma Phi,Chi Phi, Delta Chi, Delta Lambda Phi, Delta Sigma Phi, Kappa Sigma, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Kappa Psi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Theta Chi, Theta Xi, and Zeta Psi.

The Davis Collegiate Panhellenic Council (DCPA) is similar to the Interfraternity Council, but is the governing council for several sororities at UC Davis. They are responsible for organizing recruitment, and overseeing that all regulations are upheld. There are currently 10 sororities that are a part of the Panhellenic Council. The 10 sororities are: alpha Kappa Delta Phi, Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Phi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi.

The Phi Chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho was locally established May 1 of 1923 at UC Davis making it the first continuously running national fraternity on campus. They started as the Kappa Tau Fraternity, which was the first Agricultural Fraternity on campus. Many campus buildings are named after alumni of Alpha Gamma Rho such as Emil Mrak (Mrak Hall, Registrar's office), Orville Thompson (Thompson Hall, Segundo student housing), and Dean De Carli (the De Carli room, 2nd floor MU), Mel Olson Scoreboard (Aggie Stadium), and many more. The AGR Hall is an event space located inside the Buehler Alumni / Visitor's Center and is commonly rented out as a conference room or banquet hall. There are both national and local fraternities and sororities at UCD with diverse backgrounds and histories.