UCI stands for University of California Irvine. Founded in 1965, the University of California, Irvine combines the strengths of a major research university with the bounty of an incomparable Southern California location. Despite this year’s unprecedented fiscal challenges, UCI’s unyielding commitment to cutting-edge research, teaching, learning and creativity makes the campus a driving force for innovation and discovery that benefits our local, national and global communities in many ways. With nearly 28,000 students, 1,100 faculty members and 9,000 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 largest employer, UCI generates an annual economic impact on the county of $3.9 billion. UCI is a center for quality education that fosters the passionate and enthusiastic expansion of knowledge. Our graduates are equipped with the tools of analysis, expression and cultural understanding necessary for leadership in today’s world.
UCI is consistently ranked among the nation’s best universities – public and private – with achievements in a broad range of fields that have garnered high national rankings for many schools, departments and programs. Three UCI researchers have won Nobel Prizes – two in chemistry and one in physics.