UC Irvine may be among the youngest campuses in the UC system, but it's one of the fastest growing in stature and size. The University of California, Irvine, is ranked eighth of all public universities in the United States, based on quality of education and cost, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking. In its 35th year, UC Irvine has emerged as leading research center with access to a faculty of researchers at the forefront of their fields. Today, UCI enrolls over 19,000 students in 56 undergraduate majors and more than 100 graduate programs.

The campus lies amid rapidly-growing communities and is located just ten minutes from the Pacific Ocean. Irvine is located in the coastal foothills near Newport Beach about 40 miles south of Los Angeles. The architecture and atmosphere of the campus are contemporary and the 1,489 acres provide plenty of open space and greenery.

Irvine's distinctive undergraduate research programs allow students to work closely with faculty mentors as early as the freshman year. Last year, nearly 1,000 undergraduates pursued faculty supervised independent study in the biological and social sciences. Other students worked with faculty in the physical sciences, humanities, engineering, arts, and social ecology.

UCI is noted internationally for its rich academic programs and the quality of its faculty. The campus' long-standing commitment to undergraduate education yields strong programs across all academic disciplines.