Key Rankings

UCI is one of 61 universities in the U.S. and Canada elected to membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities.

UCI is ranked 13th among the nation’s best public universities and 45th among all national public and private universities, according to the annual U.S. News & World Report “America’s Best Colleges” ranking of undergraduate programs at leading universities. Among specific undergraduate programs, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering ranked 42nd among engineering schools whose highest degree is a doctorate.

In the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2011 by Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Center for World-Class Universities, UCI is ranked 33rd in the U.S. and 48th in the world.

Using data collected in 2006, the National Research Council ranked a number of UCI doctoral programs among the top in the country. The School of Physical Sciences was an area of particular strength, with all four programs – chemistry, Earth system science, mathematics and physics & astronomy – rated in the top quartile nationally. Other outstanding areas include neuroscience (anatomy & neurobiology and neurobiology & behavior), anthropology, civil engineering and ecology & evolutionary biology.

UCI was listed sixth in Sierra Magazine’s 2011 “Coolest Schools” report as part of the environmental magazine’s annual sustainability ranking of U.S. colleges and universities. The magazine is the official publication of the Sierra Club, one of the nation’s largest and most influential environmental organizations.

In a 2009 report by the American Chemical Society’s Committee on Professional Training, UCI ranked seventh among U.S. universities with the highest numbers of chemistry degrees conferred at all three levels (bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate).

The Paul Merage School of Business M.B.A. programs consistently rank among the best in the world, including No. 1 in the U.S. for employment of M.B.A. students within three months of graduation by Financial Times.

U.S. News & World Report ranks schools and programs periodically. Following are the most current rankings for UCI graduate programs and specialties that have been named among the nation’s top 50: literary criticism & theory (1), behavioral neuroscience (5), criminology (5), creative writing (6), healthcare management (9), organic chemistry (10), information systems (11), drama & theater (12), third-world literature (12), cognitive psychology (13), psychology – neurobiology & behavior (16), experimental psychology (19), gender and literature (19), cell biology/developmental biology (21), 19th- & 20th-century literature (22), English (22), psychology – cognitive science (22), business – part-time (24), chemistry (26), sociology (27), computer science (28), aerospace engineering (29), psychology (29), mechanical engineering (30), physics (30), civil engineering (31), biological sciences (34), environmental engineering (34), business – full-time (36), engineering (36), political science (36), biomedical engineering (40), economics (42), history (42), mathematics (43), materials science engineering (45), medicine – research (47), psychology & social behavior (47) and electrical engineering (49).

The 2009 Philosophical Gourmet Report ranked the graduate program in philosophy 23rd in the U.S., with 11 specialty areas ranked in the top 10. UCI received a first-place ranking for its program in decision, rational choice & game theory; second place for philosophy of physics, philosophy of science and philosophy of social science; third place for early modern philosophy - 17th century, mathematical logic and philosophy of mathematics; and fourth-place rankings for history of analytic philosophy, medieval philosophy, philosophical logic and philosophy of biology. UCI’s program is co-administered by the Department of Logic & Philosophy of Science in the School of Social Sciences and the Department of Philosophy in the School of Humanities.

The 2007 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index ranked five UCI research fields in the top five among large research universities. Computer & information science ranked first; information science/studies fourth; and geology/Earth science, mathematics, and urban & regional planning fifth. Produced by Academic Analytics, the index rates journal articles and books published by each program’s faculty, as well as journal citations, awards, honors and grants.

UCI graduates rank 17th nationally in salary earnings among U.S. public universities, according to a 2010 report by PayScale.com.

Kiplinger Personal Finance ranked UCI 22nd among the “Best Values in Public Colleges,” published January 2012, listing the top public universities in the country for affordability and quality of education. UCI ranked 10th – and best among UCs – for least average amount of debt at graduation. The Princeton Review also named UCI a “2011 Best Value College.”

Diverse Issues in Higher Education ranks UCI third in the nation for awarding bachelor’s degrees to minority students in the 2009-10 school year. The rankings are based on data submitted by institutions of higher education to the U.S. Department of Education.

Top Accolades

Three UCI researchers have won Nobel Prizes, F. Sherwood Rowland and Irwin Rose in chemistry, and Frederick Reines in physics.

Orange County’s only university hospital and Level I trauma center, UC Irvine Medical Center is ranked among the nation’s best 50 hospitals by U.S. News & World Report in three specialty-care areas

The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC Irvine Medical Center is the only Orange County facility to earn the National Cancer Institute’s prestigious “comprehensive” designation.

More than 90 UC Irvine Healthcare physicians are listed as “Best Doctors in America” by Best Doctors Inc., an organization that bases its selection on survey results from other physicians.

U.S. News & World Report ranks UCI’s creative writing program – producer of such noted authors as Michael Chabon, Alice Sebold and Richard Ford – sixth nationally.

UCI athletics teams have earned 26 national titles in nine sports, and 63 individual Anteaters have won national titles; 42 have competed in the Olympics.

Did You Know?

UCI ranks among the top U.S. universities – public and private – in the number of undergraduate applications and, for fall 2010, the campus admitted among the most academically competitive freshman classes in its history.

Graduating its inaugural class in 2012, UCI’s School of Law is the first public law school in California to open in more than 40 years.

The Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences is the first in the UC system and among the fastest-growing programs of its kind in the nation.

UCI’s 124,000 graduates include leaders in the arts, sciences, business, education – all walks of life. Among them are three Pulitzer Prize winners and the architect of the “HTTP/1.1” Internet protocol used worldwide.

UCI offers 84 undergraduate degree programs, as well as 57 master’s, an M.D., Ed.D., J.D. and 46 Ph.D. programs.

UCI academic preparation programs touch the lives of tens of thousands of K-12 students in California each year, and many serve as national models.

UC Irvine Extension annually offers more than 4,000 university-level professional and personal enrichment courses, including 35 certificate programs and 18 specialized studies programs.

The UCI Libraries, the region’s largest information resource, also draw more than half of their 2 million-plus annual visitors from outside the campus community.

Fueling Growth & Prosperity

UCI has an annual economic impact on Orange County of $4 billion and is a significant contributor to the region’s talent-rich workforce. In 2010-11, the university invested more than $110 million in capital projects, with additional upgrades under way or in the planning stages.

Extramural funding – money coming from outside sources, including federal and state agencies, industry contracts and private foundations in support of UCI research – totaled $331 million in 2010-11.

Underscoring strong community support, private giving to UCI reached $103 million in 2010-11. With an endowment valued at $301 million as of June 30, 2011, the University of California, Irvine Foundation spearheads private fundraising efforts for the campus and, with the assistance of alumni and community leaders, helps ensure UCI’s future as a world-class research university.