Best Universities in California: Top Colleges Overview

The state of California offers students a broad range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in its universities and colleges. Some of these schools are among the top-ranked colleges in the nation overall, so read on to learn about some of the best of the best in California.

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Top Universities and Colleges in California

1. Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA

Loyola Marymount University is a private Catholic university serving just over 9,000 students every year. U.S. News and World Report ranked Loyola Marymount as the third-best western regional school in 2011, and the Princeton Review included it on its list of 'Best Western Colleges' that same year.

Loyola Marymount offers 56 undergraduate majors and 38 master's degree programs to its students across seven colleges, such as the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, the College of Business Administration, the Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering and the School of Film and Television. The lauded faculty includes one Nobel laureate, one Pulitzer Prize-winner and two Fulbright Scholars amongst the 507 working there full-time. Students can also take part in one of the 140 student clubs or work for some of Loyola Marymount's student-run media outlets, such as the radio station KXLU 88.9 or the ROAR television network.

2. Stanford University in Stanford, CA

Stanford University, located approximately 40 miles south of San Francisco, is a leading private research university. In 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranked Stanford as the fifth-best school in the country. The same year, the Princeton Review included Stanford among its 'Best Western Colleges' and 'Best Value Private College' lists, as well as recognizing it for having the seventh-best college library.

Stanford offers degrees through seven colleges, three of which offer both undergraduate and graduate programs. Four of Stanford's colleges - business, education, medicine and law - offer only graduate programs. Areas of study include art and art history, bioengineering, economics, mathematics, neurosurgery, political science, psychology, statistics and various fields of engineering. Stanford's library system includes more than eight million volumes and one million audiovisual volumes, as well as over one million e-books.

3. University of California - Berkeley

In 2011, the University of California - Berkeley (UC - Berkeley) was named the top-ranked public school by U.S. News and World Report. UC - Berkeley was also named a 'Best Western College' and a 'Best Value Public College' by the Princeton Review that same year. The university serves over 35,000 students, offering them approximately 7,000 courses through 350 degree programs in 130 different departments. The graduate studies program at UC - Berkeley awards more Ph.D.s than any other postsecondary school in the U.S.

In 2009, the most popular majors at UC - Berkeley included electrical engineering, political science, molecular biology, computer science and economics. Students have access to many resources, including UC - Berkeley's library system, which was voted the best public university library by the Association of Research Libraries in 2008.

List of Ten Great Universities in California

School Name	Distinction	Location
California Institute of Technology	Has the number one chemistry program in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report as of 2011	Pasadena, CA
California State University - Long Beach	Has 350 California Merit Finalists in its undergraduates	Long Beach, CA
Loyola Marymount University	The first college in southern California	Los Angeles, CA
Pepperdine University	Has several international locations, including Italy, England, Switzerland, Germany, Argentina and China	Malibu, CA
Stanford University	Home to several innovations, including e-mail security, DSL, genome sequencing and Google	Stanford, CA
University of California - Berkeley	Has the most highly ranked graduate programs in the country, according to the National Research Council in 2010	Berkeley, CA
University of California - Davis	Medical students work at five free clinics set up for underrepresented individuals	Davis, CA
University of California - Los Angeles	Among its past and present faculty are five Nobel laureates and three Pulitzer Prize-winners	Los Angeles, CA
University of California - San Diego	Has an incredibly diverse student body, with 64% being people of color	San Diego, CA
University of Southern California	Has approximately 65 National Academy members in the faculty	Los Angeles, CA