About UCLA
UCLA is known worldwide for the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. UCLA's strength is its size, allowing for exceptional diversity and virtually limitless possibility. The university is a shared public asset that benefits society by educating students, creating knowledge through research discoveries, powering the economy and improving quality of life.
History and Location
UCLA was founded in 1919 as the Southern Branch of the University of California, with a campus on Vermont Avenue. The Westwood campus opened in 1929. UCLA is now one of 10 UC campuses. UCLA History Project | Visiting UCLA
Academics
UCLA offers immediate, first-year access to an extraordinary selection of studies — more than 2,900 undergraduate courses and a comprehensive curriculum, ranging from the arts, social sciences and humanities to the physical sciences and life sciences.
- UCLA offers degrees in 129 undergraduate majors and 126 graduate programs.
- The UCLA College of Letters and Science includes seven divisions, 60 departments, 25 interdepartmental programs, 107 undergraduate majors and 58 graduate programs.
- UCLA has 11 highly regarded professional schools, many of them ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, including the School of the Arts and Architecture; the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies; the David Geffen School of Medicine; the Anderson School of Management; the School of Law; the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science; the Fielding School of Public Health; the School of Nursing; and the Luskin School of Public Affairs. Dentistry programs are not ranked in the report, but UCLA's School of Dentistry is widely considered among the nation's best by several measures. While U.S. News & World Report also does not include film schools, the Hollywood Reporter has ranked the School of Theater, Film and Television fourth among the world's film schools.
Students
Last year, UCLA received the largest number of freshman applications in its history, with 72,697 prospective students from California and around the world applying for fall 2012 admission.
- Total enrollment for fall 2012 was 39,945, including 27,941 undergraduates and 12,004 graduate students. In addition, there were 1,396 interns and residents in medicine and dentistry on campus.
- Freshmen enrolled for fall 2012 had an average high school GPA of 4.21 and an average composite SAT reasoning test score of 1,935 out of a possible 2,400.
- In 2011–12, 56 percent of undergraduates received need-based financial aid, and 40 percent of students received Pell Grants, among the top in the nation and a reflection of the opportunity UCLA students were provided.
Faculty
A distinguished faculty is UCLA's cornerstone. The campus has nearly 4,000 faculty members and other teaching staff. UCLA faculty members have been the recipients of numerous prestigious honors, including six Nobel Prizes, 10 National Medals of Science, three Presidential Medals of Freedom and three Pulitzer Prizes, as well as undreds of Guggenheim, MacArthur, Sloan, Fulbright-Hays and other leading academic fellowships, grants and awards.
Gene D. Block became chancellor of UCLA on Aug. 1, 2007.
Research
UCLA research leads to real-world advances in knowledge that enhance quality of life around the globe.
- UCLA consistently ranks among the nation's leaders in competitively awarded grants and contracts to universities; the campus received more than $1 billion during the 2011–12 fiscal year.
- UCLA has approximately 6,000 funded research projects underway at any given time.
- UCLA manages more than 1,800 active inventions, including approximately 630 U.S. patents. About 530 UCLA inventions have been licensed to companies. Using technology developed at UCLA, at least 90 startup companies have been created in the last five years.
Health Care
The UCLA Health System has been a leader in patient care, medical research and teaching for more than 50 years.
- UCLA physicians provide an array of cutting-edge and research-based primary and specialty services at four hospitals on two campuses and at more than 150 clinic locations, serving nearly half a million patients annually.
- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has been rated the best hospital in the western United States for 23 consecutive years and is ranked among the top five hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report.
- The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA ranks among the nation's elite medical schools, producing doctors and researchers whose contributions have led to major breakthroughs in health care. With more than 2,500 full-time faculty members, nearly 1,300 residents, about 780 medical students and more than 400 Ph.D. scholars, the medical school consistently ranks among the top-funded research institutions by the National Institutes of Health and overall.
Continuing Education
UCLA Extension, one of the nation's oldest and largest continuing education providers, offers 4,300 comprehensive courses, programs and conferences for professionals in business, management, engineering, information systems, entertainment studies, public policy, public health, the humanities and more. Extension also offers one of the nation's largest Internet-based distance-learning programs, attracting adult students from all 50 states and 80 foreign countries and U.S. territories.
Arts and Culture
UCLA is the leading arts and cultural center in the western U.S., hosting more than 1,000 visual and performing arts events each year and attracting more than 500,000 patrons.
UCLA's venues include the Broad Art Center, the Hammer Museum, Royce Hall, the Fowler Museum at UCLA, the Geffen Playhouse, the Freud Playhouse, the Billy Wilder Theater, Schoenberg Hall, Perloff Hall and the Glorya Kaufman Dance Theatre.
The university's prestigious Center for the Art of Performance presents international theater companies, leading choreographers in contemporary dance, genre-defying artists and performers from across the musical spectrum.
Budget
UCLA's budget for the 2012–13 fiscal year is approximately $5.2 billion.
- State funding constitutes approximately 7 percent of total revenues. However, state support makes up about 28 percent of core revenues covering general operating costs like faculty salaries, facilities and police services.
- Additional revenue sources include medical center patient revenues, research grants, tuition, housing payments and private giving.
Economic Impact
For every $1 taxpayers invest in UCLA, the university generates almost $15 in economic activity, resulting in a $9.3 billion economic impact on the greater Los Angeles region. Impact
- UCLA is the region's seventh largest employer, with approximately 27,000 faculty and staff.
- UCLA-related employment and spending supports nearly 70,000 permanent jobs in the region.
Athletics
UCLA has won 108 NCAA team championships, more than any other NCAA Division I college or university. The NCAA's list of the 100 most influential student athletes in history includes eight from UCLA. UCLA Sports
Alumni
UCLA has more than 398,000 living alumni. Alumni Association
Community Involvement
UCLA takes seriously its leadership role in the greater Los Angeles community. Numerous outreach programs engage the campus with the community and help students better prepare for college. More than half of UCLA's undergraduates participate in some form of community service, from tutoring young people and combating poverty and homelessness to providing legal, social, medical and educational assistance. The UCLA Volunteer Center sends thousands of student volunteers into the local community each year to help improve quality of life in the region.
Updated Nov. 15, 2012