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University of California, Irvine
UC Irvine was founded in 1965 and has grown to enroll more than 36,000 students, ranking among the nation's top 10 public universities.
University of California, Irvine was established in 1965 as the second campus in Orange County, built on land within the broader Irvine Company's planned community. The university was created to serve the expanding population of Southern California and to anchor educational research in the region. From its founding with a few hundred students, UCI has grown into a comprehensive research university with 15 schools and colleges offering more than 220 degree programs.
Today, UCI enrolls more than 36,000 students and generates approximately $8 billion in annual economic impact for California. The university is consistently ranked among the top 10 public universities in the nation and has become known for research in the life sciences, engineering, computer science, and artificial intelligence. The campus itself sits minutes from the Pacific coast, a location that has attracted faculty and students looking for both world-class academics and the California lifestyle.
Many Irvine families have lived through the university's chapters: a parent or sibling's graduation, a visit to campus as a prospective student, careers launched from its classrooms and labs. Universities are places where people ask what happens next—which is also what drives families to plan ahead, to secure the income that would let a child still go to college, or to protect a business or profession built over decades of work.