California’s System of Higher Education

California’s system of public education is one of the strongest worldwide. California’s public education options begin with state-funded pre-schools, continue with elementary and secondary schools, and culminate in colleges and universities (also referred to as post-secondary or higher education institutions). California has three public systems of higher education: (1) the California Community College system, (2) the California State University system, and (3) the University of California system. The charts below give you a quick overview of each system.

System	# of Campuses	Examples (see Web Sites)
California Community College (CCC)	109	» Santa Barbara City College » Oxnard College » Allan Hancock College
California State University (CSU)	23	» California State University, Northridge (CSUN) » California State University, Channel Islands » California State Polytechnic University, » San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly, SLO)
University of California (UC)	10	» University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) » University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) » University of California, Merced (UCM)

System	Degrees Awarded	Admission
California Community College (CCC)	Certificates, 2-year Associate of Arts (AA) degrees	Open admission
California State University (CSU)	4-year baccalaureate degrees including Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BS) degrees, graduate degrees including Master’s degrees (MA) and Joint Doctoral Programs (with UC) including Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees	Admits top 33.3% of California high school graduating class
University of California (UC)	4-year baccalaureate degrees, graduate degrees including Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees and professional degrees such as those in medicine (MD), law (JD), and veterinary science (DVM)	Admits top 12.5% of California’s high school graduating class

If you are interested in attending a California State University, you should talk to your counselor, contact the California State University campus in which you are interested, or check out the “How to Get to College Guides”—available for 6th to 8th and 9th to 12th grade students in English and Spanish—at http://www.calstate.edu/datastore/guides.shtml

California’s community colleges serve as gateways to four-year colleges and universities. You can attend a community college, complete your first two years of college coursework (your lower-division coursework), then transfer to a college or university to complete your last two years (your upper-division coursework) of a baccalaureate degree. If you pursue the transfer route, you will apply to your college or university of choice as a transfer student. The freshman admission requirements, such as those for the University of California described on this Web site, would no longer apply to you. To find out about transfer admission requirements, contact a community college counselor and/or the admissions office at your college or university of choice. To learn more resources designed to help you transfer, visit the UCSB Transfer Services and Puente Web sites.

If you are interested in attending a California private college or university (for example, California Lutheran University, Pepperdine University, Stanford University, University of Southern California, or Westmont College), talk to your counselor, contact the campus in which you are interested, or check out the Web site for the Association of Independent California College and Universities (AICCU) at http://www.aiccumentor.org

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