Colleges in California

California, the golden state, hosts extensive possibilities for public and private colleges and universities and post secondary training. California offers a unique three tier system of public postsecondary education consisting of Universities of California, California State Universities, and California Community College System. The University of California (UC) is the preeminent research university system in the state and is considered one of the world's finest public university systems. The California State University system is intended for undergraduate education and has over 400,000 students, making it the largest university system in the United States. The California Community College System provides lower division courses and is composed of 109 colleges, serving a student population of over 2.9 million.

California is also home to such notable private universities and colleges as Stanford University, the University of Southern California (USC), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Occidental College, and the Claremont Colleges. California has hundreds of other private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions.

US News & World Report list of America’s Best Colleges has ranked 15 California Universities on their list of Top Schools.