# What's the difference between the University of California and California State? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2002, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285 "2002-08-04T10:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HoldenCaulfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/22d042/32.png) [@HoldenCaulfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoldenCaulfield)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285/21 "2002-08-05T04:50:27Z")
I don’t much about the histories of the Universities, but I can give my experience as a California high school student. The UC schools are generally harder to get into. Mostly everyone I knew got accepted to at least CSU schools if they applied, but they are most certainly not comparable to community colleges. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285/22 "2002-08-05T19:12:36Z")
Since it came up, I’ll amplify what Wendell correctly said about Caltech. Properly known as the California Institute of Technology, it’s a private school in Pasadena, just outside of Los Angeles. Not affiliated with UC, CSU, or any other state institutions. The local peeve: it’s **Caltech**. Not Cal Tech, CalTech, Cal-Tech, or any other variants. Everybody in this thread has gotten it correct, but it’s frequently screwed up. My source for this is how the institute refers to itself in all official publications. Scour [www.caltech.edu](http://www.caltech.edu) for references. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285/23 "2002-08-05T19:38:36Z")
The Cal State system changed in the early Seventies; they used to be known as the California State Colleges, and it was my understanding they changed to “California State Universities” for political reasons. It had to do with the perception of the schools from bonehead schools to pinnacles of education. I heard it also had to do with applying for federal funding. So, for the record: there presently IS no “California State College” system. It is called “California State University” system. And it is an entirely different animal than the University of California system. The fees and entrance requirements and graduation requirements of the two are different. There is no STATEWIDE Community College system. Those are regional, and the fees and entrance requirements for them vary as well. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285/24 "2002-08-06T00:08:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > \*\*"The Los Angeles Community College District is the largest one and has several campuses. A lot of these have names like “Pasadena City College”, “Santa Monica City College”, etc. > \*\* Neither Pasadena (PCC) nor Santa Monica (SMC) are a part of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). Pasadena and Santa Monica are both cities in their own right, not parts of Los Angeles. LACCD has nine campuses that are all refered to in the form “Los Angeles \ College,” i.e., Los Angeles Valley College. The names of the nine campuses are Pierce, Valley, Mission, City, Harbor, East, West, Trade-Technical, and Southwest. T. J. Black ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285/25 "2002-08-06T01:28:09Z")
It appears that Pasadena City College is the only school in the [Pasadena Area Community College District](http://www.paccd.cc.ca.us/board/) (which also includes the cities of Arcadia, a portion of El Monte, La Cañada Flintridge\*, Pasadena, Rosemead, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, and Temple City). At least, that’s the best I’m able to gather - the website is a little vague about just what the PACCD really _does_, besides run PCC. The Board of Trustees consists of: representatives of each of the seven geographical Areas within the district; a (presumably PCC) student; and the President of PCC. There is a California Community Colleges system - the website of its Board of Governors is [here](http://www.cccco.edu/executive/bog/bog.htm). It “sets policy and provides guidance for the 72 districts and 107 colleges which constitute the system.” It sounds, though, like the various districts are largely self-governing and only get very broad policy directives from the CCC Board. [This page](http://www.cccco.edu/about/about.htm) on the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office website, states: “Both the Chancellor’s Office and the Board of Governors were created by legislation passed in 1967 (prior to that, the community colleges fell under the guidance of the State Board of Education). Since then, more colleges have joined the system, making it today the largest system of higher education in the world.” - - No, there’s no missing comma: the city’s name really is “[La Cañada Flintridge](http://www.lacanadaflintridge.com/).” ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285/26 "2002-08-06T05:13:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cardinal \* > \*\*I think it was Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Irvine, and San Diego. SD and SB have made a hard charge upward in the past 15 or so years. IIRC, SB and Irvine have recently had professors awarded portions of Nobel Prizes. \*\* I’d bet that it was Davis, not Irvine. Irvine and Riverside have always been the ugly stepsisters of the U.C. system - mostly because no one wants to live in those places. I remember that for at least one year in the early '90s, Davis was the hardest U.C. to get accepted into (in terms of the acceptance rate). ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285/27 "2002-08-06T06:40:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by brad\_d \* > \*_It appears that Pasadena City College is the only school in the [Pasadena Area Community College District](http://www.paccd.cc.ca.us/board/) (which also includes the cities of Arcadia, a portion of El Monte, La Cañada Flintridge_, Pasadena, Rosemead, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, and Temple City). > > At least, that’s the best I’m able to gather - the website is a little vague about just what the PACCD really _does_, besides run PCC. The Board of Trustees consists of: representatives of each of the seven geographical Areas within the district; a (presumably PCC) student; and the President of PCC. > > There is a California Community Colleges system - the website of its Board of Governors is [here](http://www.cccco.edu/executive/bog/bog.htm). It “sets policy and provides guidance for the 72 districts and 107 colleges which constitute the system.” It sounds, though, like the various districts are largely self-governing and only get very broad policy directives from the CCC Board. > > [This page](http://www.cccco.edu/about/about.htm) on the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office website, states: “Both the Chancellor’s Office and the Board of Governors were created by legislation passed in 1967 (prior to that, the community colleges fell under the guidance of the State Board of Education). Since then, more colleges have joined the system, making it today the largest system of higher education in the world.” > > - > - No, there’s no missing comma: the city’s name really is “[La Cañada Flintridge](http://www.lacanadaflintridge.com/).” \*\* :smack: My previous post about the Community College districts would have made a lot more sense if I had typed the words I meant to put in it, such as “Other colleges have names like Santa Monica City College…” Since I live in the PACCD, I can tell you that it runs PCC and as well as some adult classes at other sites throughout the area. I took golf lessons through PCC. ---
**Author:** ![najniran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/958977/32.png) [@najniran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/najniran)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285/28 "2003-09-13T07:03:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cardinal \* > \*\*I’ve been told that the UC system was built to service the top ~12% of the high school graduating class. It certainly carries a higher reputation than the Cal State system. I think I counted five UC schools in the top 30 U.S. News’ college rankings a couple years ago. I think it was Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Irvine, and San Diego. SD and SB have made a hard charge upward in the past 15 or so years. IIRC, SB and Irvine have recently had professors awarded portions of Nobel Prizes. \*\* You are very correct. Santa Barbara has had three Nobel Laureates (sp?) in the past four years. Two for physics, one for chem? I think. Santa Barbara was also just awarded one of the biggest Amry Research Office contracts (50 Million to be shared with MIT and Caltech) to establish the Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies. IMHO, Santa Barbara has become the hardest UC to get into aside from Berkeley and LA. Gorgeous weather, wild night life and good school, what more can you really ask for? ---
**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285/29 "2003-09-13T08:00:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wendell Wagner \* > \*\* > One more interesting fact. The University of California at Berkeley is called “Berkeley” by people outside of California. The people there though always call it “California” or just “Cal.” \*\* I always just call it Berzerkly. :wally ---
**Author:** ![dakravel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@dakravel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dakravel)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285/30 "2003-09-13T08:16:43Z")
So it’s true that CSU schools don’t have Ph.D programs then? Also, UC campuses are generally pretty research-oriented, do CSU campuses have much research associated with them? I’m a second year EE major at UCD **Monty** ^\_^, hopefully you enjoy your time here. UCD is a great school, and I’m glad I went there. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285/31 "2003-09-13T10:08:11Z")
I’m having a blast here, dakravel. The courses are living up to their reputation as being challenging & the weather rots! I moved here from Monterey. Oh, IIRC, China Guy is a graduate of UCD. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-the-university-of-california-and-california-state/122285.md?page=1)