University of California

About UCI

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

With 30,000 students, 1,100 faculty members and 9,700 staff, UCI is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system. Increasingly a first-choice campus for students, UCI ranks among the top U.S. universities in the number of undergraduate applications and continues to admit freshmen with highly competitive academic profiles. Orange County’s second-largest employer, UCI generates an annual economic impact on the county of $5 billion.

Excellence in Academics & Research

Consistently ranked among the nation's best universities – public and private – UCI excels in a broad range of fields, garnering national recognition for many schools, departments and programs. Three UCI researchers won Nobel Prizes – two in chemistry and one in physics.

The university is noted for its excellent research and graduate programs, an extensive commitment to undergraduate education, and a growing number of professional schools and programs of academic importance and social significance. Recent enhancements include public health, pharmaceutical sciences and nursing science programs; an education school; as well as California’s first public law school in four decades.

A Prime Resource for the Community

UCI’s students, faculty and staff reach beyond the classrooms and laboratories to address social issues and improve the human condition. UC Irvine Medical Center, Orange County’s only university hospital, is home to the world-class UC Irvine Douglas Hospital, housing the latest technologies and strengthening UCI’s ability to provide specialized medical and surgical treatments to the region’s citizens.

A major intellectual and cultural center, UCI engages the community through many public activities and events. Renowned individuals speaking on campus include Nobel Peace Prize winner the XIV Dalai Lama, Jordan’s Queen Noor, British industrialist and Virgin Unite founder Sir Richard Branson, and United Nations messengers of peace Dame Jane Goodall and Charlize Theron.

Fueling Growth & Prosperity

The university has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in capital construction projects, with additional upgrades under way or in the planning stages. Extramural funding – money coming from outside sources, including federal and state agencies, industry contracts and private foundations in support of UCI research – regularly exceeds $300 million annually.

UCI recently concluded a $1 billion fundraising campaign to support the campus’s continued excellence in research, teaching and public service in the decades ahead.

History of UCI

Early years

The University of California, Irvine was one of three new University of California campuses established in the 1960s under the California Master Plan for Higher Education with theSan Diego and Santa Cruz campuses. During the 1950s, the University of California saw the need for the new campuses to handle both the large number of college-bound World War II veterans (largely due to the G. I. Bill) and the expected increase in enrollment from the post-war baby boom. One of the new campuses was to be in the Los Angeles area; the location selected was Irvine Ranch, an area of agricultural land bisecting Orange County from north to south. This site was chosen to accommodate the county's growing population, complement the growth of nearby UCLA and UC Riverside, and allow for the construction of a master planned community in the surrounding area.

Unlike most other University of California campuses, UCI was not named for the city it was built in; at the time of the university's founding (1965), the current city of Irvine (incorporated in 1971) did not exist. The name "Irvine" is a reference to James Irvine, a landowner who administered the 94,000-acre (38,000 ha) Irvine Ranch. In 1960, The Irvine Company sold 1,000 acres (400 ha) of the Irvine Ranch to the University of California for one dollar, since a company policy prohibited the donation of property to a public entity. The University purchased an additional 510 acres (210 ha) in 1964 for housing and commercial developments. Much of the land that was not purchased by UCI (which is now occupied by the cities of Irvine, Tustin, Newport Beach, and Newport Coast) is now held under The Irvine Company. During this time, the University also hired William Pereira and Associates as the Master Planner of the Irvine Ranch area. Pereira intended for the UC Irvine campus to complement the neighboring community, and the two grew in tandem. Soon after UC Irvine opened in 1965, the City of Irvine became incorporated and established in 1971 and 1975, respectively.

UC Irvine's first Chancellor, Daniel G. Aldrich, developed the campus' first academic plan around a College of Arts, Letters, and Science, a Graduate School of Administration, and a School of Engineering. The College of Arts, Letters, and Science was composed of twenty majors in five "Divisions": Biological Sciences, Fine Arts, Humanities, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences (which transformed into the present-day "Schools"). Aldrich was also responsible for implementing the wide variety of flora and fauna on the campus that fit the local Mediterranean climate zone, feeling that it served an "aesthetic, environmental, and educational [purpose].

On June 20, 1964, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson dedicated UC Irvine before a crowd of 15,000 people, and on October 4, 1965 the campus began operations with 1,589 students, 241 staff members, 119 faculty, and 43 teaching assistants.However, many of UCI's buildings were still under construction and landscaping was still in progress, with the campus only at 75% completion. By June 25, 1966, UCI held its first Commencement with fourteen students, which conferred ten Bachelor of Arts degrees, three Master of Arts degrees, and one Doctor of Philosophy degree.

In 1965 the California College of Medicine (originally a school of osteopathy founded in 1896 and the oldest continuously operating medical college in the Southwest) became part of UC Irvine.

In 1976, plans to establish an on-campus hospital were set aside, with the university instead purchasing the Orange County Medical Center (renamed the UC Irvine Medical Center) around 12 miles from UC Irvine, in the City of Orange.

Present day

As the second largest employer in Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $5 billion. There are 87 undergraduate degree programs, 59 master's and 46 Ph.D. programs. Numerous other educational and training opportunities are offered in areas ranging from physician residency programs at UC Irvine's Medical Center to community certificate programs and other coursework through University Extension.

In 2014-2015, UC Irvine awarded 8,772 degrees: 6,768 bachelor's degrees 1,412 Master's degrees, 390 Ph.D.s and Ed.D.s, 93 M.D.s, and 109 J.D.s.

Accreditation

Institutional Accreditation or Recognition - WASC Senior College and University Commission

Rankings

• UCI is one of 62 universities in the U.S. and Canada elected to membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities.
• The New York Times named UCI No. 1 among U.S. universities that do the most for low-income students in its College Access Index list. A measure of economic diversity, the index is based on three factors: the share of students receiving Pell Grants (which typically go to families making less than $70,000 a year); the graduation rate of those students; and the net cost, after financial aid, that a college charges low- and middle-income students.
• UCI ranks ninth among the nation's best public universities and 39th among all national public and private universities, according to the annual U.S. News & World Report "America's Best Colleges" ranking of undergraduate programs at leading universities. UCI also ranks 31st in best value. Among specific undergraduate programs, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering ranks 44th among engineering schools whose highest degree is a doctorate. UCI's undergraduate major in The Paul Merage School of Business ranks 32nd. U.S. News & World Report also named UCI a top college for veterans, ranking 23rd nationally.
• Money magazine ranked UCI 16th among the nation's four-year colleges and universities delivering the most value and the No. 1 university for beach lovers. The publication also ranked UCI the 7th best public university in the nation.
• Kiplinger Personal Finance ranked UCI 29th among the "Best Values in Public Colleges," published December 2015, listing the top public universities in the country for affordability and quality of education.
• UCI ranks among the top 10 U.S. universities – public and private – in the number of undergraduate applications and, for fall 2015, the campus admitted among the most academically competitive freshman classes in its history.
• The campus was ranked 10th by Forbes on its Best Value Colleges list in 2016 based on its tuition costs, school quality, graduation success rates and post-grad earnings.
• UCI has been identified as having one of the top graduate schools in the U.S. GradSchoolHub.com ranked UCI 19th on its 2016 “Best Graduate Schools in America” list based on class size, faculty prestige and specific program rankings.
• UCI placed third in Sierra magazine's 2016 "Coolest Schools" report as part of the environmental magazine's annual sustainability ranking of U.S. colleges and universities. The magazine is the official publication of the Sierra Club, one of the nation's largest and most influential environmental organizations. This marked the seventh year in a row that UCI ranked in the top 10.
• UCI also is named on The Princeton Review's Green College Honor Roll. The campus was recognized for its environmentally responsible policies, healthy and sustainable quality of life for students, and green educational opportunities.
• Educate to Career listed UCI as the No. 1 best value top college in its 2017 ETC College Rankings Index. UCI was given the top accolade for its ability to improve labor market outcomes for students.
• The Center for World University Rankings places UCI 52nd in the U.S. and 88th in the world in its 2016 ranking of the top 100 degree-granting institutions of higher education. The Academic Ranking of World Universities 2016 by Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Center for World-Class Universities ranks UCI 33rd in the U.S. and 58th in the world.

• Washington Monthly named UCI 35th in its annual College Guide and Rankings of National Universities. Rankings are based on the university's ability to promote social mobility, research and public service.
• Using data collected in 2006, the National Research Council ranked a number of UCI doctoral programs among the top in the country. The School of Physical Sciences was an area of particular strength, with all four programs – chemistry,Earth system science, mathematics and physics & astronomy – rated in the top quartile nationally. Other outstanding areas include neuroscience (anatomy & neurobiology and neurobiology & behavior), anthropology, civil engineering andecology & evolutionary biology.
• A study by University of St. Thomas School of Law measured the impact of law faculties based on citations in scholarly journals and ranked UCI School of Law faculty sixth in the nation. The school ranked in the top 10 with law schools at Yale University, Harvard University, University of Chicago and Stanford University.
• In a 2009 report by the American Chemical Society's Committee on Professional Training, UCI ranked seventh among U.S. universities with the highest numbers of chemistry degrees conferred at all three levels (bachelor's, master's and doctorate).
• The Paul Merage School of Business MBA programs consistently rank among the best in the world, including No. 1 for employing the highest percentage of female faculty, by Financial Times.
• U.S. News & World Report ranks schools and programs periodically. Following are the most current rankings for UCI graduate programs and specialties that have been named among the nation's top 50: literary criticism & theory (3), criminology (5), organic chemistry (12), English (22), chemistry (24), education (25), sociology (25), biomedical engineering (26), civil engineering (26), aerospace engineering (28), law (28), computer science (29), physics (29), psychology (30),  environmental engineering (31), biological sciences (34), Earth system science (34), history (36), business – part-time (36), engineering (37), computer engineering (38), materials science engineering (39), political science (40), mathematics (41), electrical engineering (41), mechanical engineering (43), business (44), medicine – research (45), and economics (46).
• The 2014-15 Philosophical Gourmet Report ranked the graduate program in philosophy 24th in the U.S., with five specialty areas ranked in the top 10: philosophy of physics (2); philosophy of mathematics (4); general philosophy of science (6); decision, rational choice and game theory (7); and philosophy of social science (8).
• U.S. News also ranked UCI's online program for a Master of Advanced Study in criminology, law & society the top online graduate criminal justice program in the country.
• The 2007 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index ranked five UCI research fields in the top five among large research universities. Computer & information science ranked first; information science/studies fourth; and geology/Earth science, mathematics, and urban & regional planning fifth. Produced by Academic Analytics, the index rates journal articles and books published by each program's faculty, as well as journal citations, awards, honors and grants.
• UCI graduates rank 31st nationally in salary earnings among U.S. public universities, according to PayScale's 2016-17 College Salary Report.
• UCI ranked 30th in AffordableSchools.net's top 50 Most Entrepreneurial Schools in America, a list of universities that provide a supportive environment to spawn new businesses.
• SmartAsset named UCI No. 9 in California in its 2016 Best Value Colleges study. UCI was recognized for high performance in scholarships, tuition, living costs, retention rate and average starting salaries of graduates.
• Diverse Issues in Higher Education ranks UCI seventh in the nation for awarding bachelor's degrees to minority students in the 2014-15 school year. The rankings are based on data submitted by institutions of higher education to the U.S. Department of Education.

Student life @UCI

Fraternities and sororities

The first fraternities and sororities at UCI began in 1973 with three sororities (Delta Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, and Gamma Phi Beta) and three fraternities (Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Chi, and Phi Delta Theta). Major events and programs in the Greek Community include Songfest, All Greek Conference, Greek Week, BANG (Being a New Greek), and risk management programs (topics vary).

Clubs and organizations

With over 650 student clubs and organizations on campus, students can readily find friends who share their interests whether academic, multicultural, political, religious, service, social, or athletic. Campus activities throughout the year include cultural nights, arts performances, and live music at Anteater Plaza—special events such as Summerlands, Wayzgoose, Shocktoberfest, and Earth Day are held yearly. ASUCI, the university's undergraduate student government, traditionally organizes a world record attempt by the university at the beginning of each academic year. UCI has won Guinness World Records for the largest game of capture the flag six times, with the most recent one in September 2015. In addition, the university has broken the record for the largest game of dodgeball three years straight. They have also won records for largest water pistol fight and largest pillow fight.

Residential accommodations

UC Irvine has a number of residential options for students interested in living on campus. Part of UCI's long-range development plan involves expanding on-campus housing to accommodate 50% of all UCI students.

The on-campus housing communities for undergraduates are: Mesa Court, Middle Earth, Arroyo Vista, Campus Village, Vista del Campo, Vista del Campo Norte, Camino del Sol, and Puerta del Sol. Graduate students also have access to the on-campus housing communities: Palo Verde and Verano Place.

UCI's two freshman dormitory communities are Mesa Court and Middle Earth. Mesa Court was the first housing community at UCI, it features a volleyball court, two basketball courts, a community center, a recreational center, and the Mesa Academic Center (MAC). Middle Earth comprises 24 residence halls, two dining facilities (Brandywine and Pippin Commons), a student center, and several resource centers. The name of each building in Middle Earth is named after a character or a place from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and "The Lord of the Rings". Middle Earth was built in three phases. The first phase was built in 1974 and it includes seven halls: Hobbiton, Isengard, Lorien, Mirkwood, Misty Mountain, Rivendell, and the Shire, along with a separate Head Resident's manufactured home called "Bag End". The second phase was built in 1989 with thirteen more halls: Balin, Harrowdale, Whispering Wood, Woodhall, Calmindon, Grey Havens, Aldor, Rohan, Gondolin, Snowbourn, Elrond, Shadowfax, and Quenya. The third phase was built in 2000 with four halls: Crickhollow, Evenstar, Oakenshield, and Valimar. Each hall houses about fifty to eighty students, although Quenya was built with sixty single suite rooms which mainly house graduate students.

There are 42 houses located in Arroyo Vista, of which 9 are sorority houses and 5 are fraternity houses. The sorority houses located in Arroyo Vista are Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Pi Beta Phi, Alpha Chi Omega, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Sigma Kappa, and Kappa Alpha Theta. The fraternity houses located in Arroyo Vista are Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Phi Gamma Delta, Kappa Sigma, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Arroyo Vista also features many themed houses based on academic or social interests. As of Fall 2012, Arroyo Vista started the "First Year Experience" and now houses first year students within six of its houses. Students living in Arroyo Vista live in complexes that may be called houses, but have dorm-like qualities.

Apartment style on-campus housing at UCI can be found at Vista del Campo, Vista del Campo Norte, Camino del Sol, and Puerta del Sol. VDC has single rooms available for undergraduates, while VDC Norte has both single rooms and double rooms available. Camino del Sol features single rooms, a community center, a fitness center, and a pool. In fall of 2012, Camino del Sol opened housing to incoming first-year students as an option instead of dorm living. Each housing community is served by ASUCI shuttles that regularly travel to the main campus.

UCI off-campus housing options vary, based on a student's preferred living arrangements and budget. However, a common denominator for off-campus apartment housing inIrvine, as well as nearby Newport Beach, Tustin, and Costa Mesa is the fact that most accommodations are maintained by The Irvine Company.

Athletics

UC Irvine's sports teams are known as the Anteaters and the student body is known as Antourage. They participate in the NCAA's Division I, as members of the Big West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. UC Irvine fields nationally competitive teams in baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, track and field, volleyball, and water polo. The university has won 28 national championships in nine different sports, and also has had 64 individual national champions, 53 Olympians, and over 500 All-Americans.

The university's most recent NCAA Division I national championship was won by the men's volleyball team on May 4, 2013 against BYU (3–0) at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. UC Irvine men's volleyball has become one of the nation's most elite volleyball programs, having won four national championships in 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2013 respectively.

UC Irvine has won three NCAA Division I men's water polo titles, with championships in 1970, 1982, and 1989.

UC Irvine baseball won back-to-back national championships at the NCAA College Division College World Series and the NCAA Division II College World Series in 1973 and 1974. Anteater baseball has since moved to the NCAA Division I level and has become one of the premier baseball programs on the west coast. The 2007 baseball team finished 3rd at the College World Series, and in 2009 the baseball team earned a No. 1 national ranking in NCAA Division I polls from Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball for the first time in school history, as well as a national seed and the right to host an NCAA Regional. The 2014 baseball team returned to the College World Series and finished 5th after a remarkable postseason run through the NCAA Regionals and NCAA Super Regionals after being one of the last teams selected for the NCAA tournament.

In 2015, for the first time, UC Irvine appeared in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. It was narrowly defeated in a first-round tournament game by Louisville, 57-55.

Anteater as mascot

The anteater was chosen in 1965 when students were allowed to submit mascot candidates, which would be voted on in a campus election. Three undergraduates named Pat Glasgow, Bob Ernst, and Schuyler Hadley Basset III were credited with choosing the anteater and designing a cartoon representation, having been disappointed with other candidates such as a roadrunner, unicorn, seahawk and golden bison.

The original anteater design was not based on the Johnny Hart comic strip, "B.C." but on a somewhat less wholesome symbol — the Playboy bunny. In November 1965, the UCI students officially voted on the anteater, and many embraced their far-out mascot. In a special follow-up election, students opted for a mascot based on the B.C. anteater over the Playboy version. Since it was "original and slightly irrelevant," it became the mascot of UC Irvine after winning 56% of the vote, beating a close second with the choice of "none of the above". The anteaters are not to be confused with the aardvark, an African animal that also eats ants. The anteater has grown to become a beloved mascot, and is the inspiration for many of UCI's athletic and campus spirit traditions. School chants and cheers feature the word "zot" which was the noise Johnny Hart's "Peter the Anteater" made while eating ants.

A hand signal called "Rip'em 'Eaters" was created by Blake Sasaki and Dennis Wisco in 2001. When attacked, an anteater sits in a tripodal position with its hind feet and tail and tears and "rips" at its predator. The hand signal is done by touching the tips of the two middle fingers with the thumb, and sliding the thumb back, making the pinky and index finger the ears and the fingers in the middle the snout of the anteater.

In August 2007, a small stuffed Peter accompanied astronaut Tracy Caldwell on the Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-118.

Following the 2015 men's basketball team's inaugural appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament, Mashable named Peter the Anteater the winner of its "Mascot Madness" tournament. The mascot also appeared on an episode of Conan.

Services of UCI

Student Center & Event Services

Student Center & Event Services provides the campus community and its guests with a variety of services and venues for social, recreational, cultural, and educational pursuits and is the primary resource for individuals/groups interested in holding a meeting, seminar, summer conference program or other event at UC Irvine.

UC Irvine Health

We are UC Irvine Health: A devoted team of nationally regarded physicians and nurses, researchers and clinicians, educators and students united by a single calling — to improve the lives of the people in our community and beyond.

As the only university-based care provider in Orange County, our multifaceted organization is dedicated to the discovery of new medical frontiers, to the teaching of future healers and to the delivery of the finest evidence-based care.

We are unique in our ability to provide the most compassionate healthcare because we’re driven by our passion for innovation, grounded in the best medical and scientific knowledge.

Among our achievements:

• UC Irvine School of Medicine, one of the top U.S. medical schools for research, is where our groundbreaking research and treatment advances are imparted to the rising practitioners of tomorrow.
• UC Irvine Medical Center is ranked among the nation's best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report — for 16 years and counting. We are also recognized in the top 50 U.S. medical centers for orthopedics and ear, nose and throat care.
• Our Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of only 47 in the nation — and the only one in Orange County — designated for excellence by the National Cancer Institute.
• UC Irvine Medical Center is Orange County's only Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, which means our trauma and critical care physicians are fully equipped to treat life-threatening injuries 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Our Comprehensive Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center is the first in Orange County to be certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by the nation's preeminent healthcare standard-setting organization.
• Our numerous health providers throughout Orange County apply the most advanced medical knowledge — for diabetes, neuromuscular disease, women’s health and more — ensuring that our community and its residents become healthier and stronger.

This union of discovery, teaching and healing has enabled UC Irvine Health to pioneer new therapies and techniques that have been adopted by institutions across the nation. It gives us the expertise to diagnose and treat exceedingly rare conditions and diseases, always with the least invasive methods possible.

Most important, it means that you and your family have access to the highest quality, research-driven care.

That is the UC Irvine Health commitment: to bring personalized, leading-edge care to you and our community.

Libraries

Services that the Libraries provide and tools to assist you.

Borrowing

• Borrowing
• Course Reserves
• Document Delivery Service
• Getting a Library Card
• Interlibrary Loan

Computing

• Available Computers
• Multimedia Resources Center
• Presentation Studio
• Printing, Copying & Scanning
• Special Software
• Wireless Printing