University of California

The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of its 10 campuses at 1) Berkeley, 2) Davis, 3) Irvine, 4) Los Angeles, 5) Merced, 6) Riverside, 7) San Diego, 8) San Francisco, 9) Santa Barbara, and 10) Santa Cruz, along with numerous research centers and academic abroad centers. Six of the campuses, Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Diego are considered Public Ivies, making California the state with the most universities in the nation to hold the title.

The University of California currently has 10 campuses, a combined student body of 285,862 students, The University of California was founded on March 23, 1868, and operated in Oakland before moving to Berkeley in 1873. Over time, several branch locations and satellite programs were established.

California State University

The California State University is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public university system in the United States.

San Diego State and Fresno State  offer several Ph.D programs, Doctor of Education and Doctor of Physical Therapy to its graduate students.

CSU is compsed of 23 campus of 1) Fullerton 2) Long Beach 3) Northridge 4) San Diego 5) San José 6) Sacramento 7) Pomona 8) Los Angeles 9) San Francisco 10) Fresno 11) San Luis Obispo 12) San Bernardino 13) Dominguez Hills 14) Chico 15) San Marcos 16) East Bay 17) Bakersfield 18) Stanislaus 19) Sonoma 20) Monterey Bay 21) Channel Islands 22) Humboldt 23) Maritime

Differences between UC and CSU? 

Both California public university systems are publicly funded higher education institutions. Despite having far fewer students, the largest UC campus, UCLA, as a result of its research emphasis and medical center, has a budget ($7.5 billion as of 2019) roughly equal to that of the entire CSU system ($7.2 billion as of 2019).

California was big enough to afford two world-class systems of public higher education, one that supports research (UC) and one that supports teaching (CSU). However, student per capita spending is lower at CSU, and that, together with the lack of a research mission or independent doctoral programs under the California Master Plan, has led some in American higher education to develop the perception that the CSU system is less prestigious than the UC system.

According to the California Master Plan for Higher Education (1960), both university systems may confer bachelors or master's degrees as well as professional certifications, however only the University of California has the authority to issue Ph.D degrees and professional degrees in the fields of law, medicine, veterinary, and dentistry. As a result of recent legislation, the California State University may now offer the Ed.D (Doctor of Education) and DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy) degrees to its graduate students.

CSU has traditionally been more accommodating to older students than UC, by offering more degree programs in the evenings and, more recently, online. In addition, CSU schools, especially in more urban areas, have traditionally catered to commuters, enrolling most of their students from the surrounding area. This has changed as CSU schools increase enrollment and some of the more prestigious urban campuses attract a wider demographic.