The Best Universities in Southern California

California Institute of Technology

• Located in Pasadena, Caltech ensures their freshmen are familiar with the school by requiring them to live on-campus in one of their eight houses.

  California Institute of Technology

  1200 East California Boulevard

  Pasadena, CA 91125

  626-395-6341

  Caltech.edu

Pepperdine University

• Internationally known Pepperdine University has a main campus that overlooks the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, California. Pepperdine is a private college that has additional campus locations and partnership programs in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America.

  Pepperdine University

  24255 Pacific Coast Highway

  Malibu, CA 90263

  310-506-4392

  Pepperdine.edu

University of California, Irvine

• Founded in 1965, University of California's fastest-growing campus is located in Irvine.

  University of California, Irvine

  Irvine, CA 92697

  949-824-6703

  Uci.edu

University of California, Los Angeles

• The range of undergraduate courses and extra-curricular activities UCLA offers makes the campus as diverse of an environment as Southern California itself.

  University of California, Los Angeles

  405 Hilgard Avenue

  Lose Angeles, CA 90095

  310-825-3101

  Ucla.edu

University of California, Riverside

• Welcoming first time college-goers, and the only UC campus located in inland Southern California, is UCR. UC Riverside's mission is to help all students succeed.

  University of California, Riverside

  900 University Avenue

  Riverside, CA 92521

  951-827-3411

  Ucr.edu

University of California, San Diego

• Overlooking the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla is the UC San Diego campus, which is one of the top-ranked research universities in the nation.

  University of California, San Diego

  9500 Gilman Drive

  La Jolla, CA 92093

  858-534-2230

  Ucsd.edu

University of California, Santa Barbara

• For the best combination of beauty and brains, UCSB claims to be Southern California's winner.

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  Santa Barbara, CA 93106

  805-893-8000

  Ucsb.edu

University of California, Santa Cruz

• Probably most well known for its grading system, UC Santa Cruz also claims notability for groundbreaking scientific research.

  University of California, Santa Cruz

  1156 High Street

  Santa Cruz, CA 95064

  Ucsc.edu

University of San Diego

• Southern California's top private college boasts both a solid academic program mixed with practical experience to prepare students for life after graduation.

  University of San Diego

  5998 Alcala Park

  San Diego, CA 92110

  619-260-4506

  SanDiego.edu

University of Southern California

• Admitting more international students than any other university is the University of Southern California, with the main campus located in central downtown Los Angeles.

  University of Southern California

  University Park

  Los Angeles, CA 90089

  213-740-2311

  Usc.edu