UC Irvine diploma
The University of California, Irvine (UCI), founded in 1965 and located in Irvine, UC Irvine diploma 2026. UC Irvine MBA degree. Orange County, Southern California, is the youngest yet fastest-growing top research university in the University of California system, often referred to as a “Public Ivy.” Benefiting from the intensive high-tech industry support of Southern California’s Silicon Valley, it has produced 7 Nobel laureates and 7 Pulitzer Prize winners in just sixty years, consistently ranking among the top ten public universities in the 2025 US News rankings.
A Comprehensive Degree System: UCI boasts a broad academic landscape, comprising 16 academic units and offering 87 undergraduate degrees, 59 master’s degrees, and 46 doctoral degrees, totaling 224 degree programs. The university operates on a quarter system, with classes held in the fall, winter, and spring semesters, each lasting 10 weeks, ensuring a fast-paced and efficient learning environment.
Undergraduate Degree and General Education Framework: Undergraduate education emphasizes both general education and specialized professional training. A bachelor’s degree requires 180 quarterly credits. The curriculum is divided into two main parts: the University of California system requirements and UCI-specific requirements. The latter covers three modules: General Education (GE), college requirements, and the major. GE courses span eight areas: writing, science and technology, social and behavioral sciences, arts and humanities, quantitative reasoning, non-English languages, multiculturalism, and international issues. Students can flexibly combine over 1,400 courses across the university, and major courses and GE courses can overlap. Students must declare their major by their junior year (90 credits), and advanced major courses typically have a strict prerequisite sequence.
Core Colleges and Graduate Programs: The Paul Melage School of Business focuses on digital business leadership, reshaping management education through experiential learning; the Henry Samuelly School of Engineering comprises six departments, including Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and its graduate programs are ranked 19th among public universities in the US, boasting 17 members of the National Academy of Engineering. Its Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering (MS.S.) offers a dual pathway of thesis and comprehensive examination. Core courses include advanced systems software, computer architecture, and algorithm design, while electives cover VLSI systems, high-performance computing, and embedded modeling. The Master of Science in Software Engineering (MSWE) is renowned for its 15-month intensive program, embedded internships, and openness to students from other majors; graduates have secured positions at leading tech companies like Amazon and Google.
The Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science is one of the few independently established computer science schools in the US, comprised of departments of Computer Science, Informatics, and Statistics, offering a complete curriculum from undergraduate to doctoral levels. The law school is known for its innovative curriculum; its Master of Laws (LL.M.) is a one-year full-time program requiring 24 credit hours, emphasizing the US legal system, experiential learning, and personalized instruction. International students can apply for scholarships. The Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing offers Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) degrees, with a Community and Population Health track specifically designed to train senior clinical leaders serving disadvantaged groups.
Interdisciplinary and Specialized Disciplines: The College of Social Ecology comprises the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy. The **Master of Urban Planning program** covers transportation policy, environmental justice, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and housing development. The department collaborates closely with Southern California local governments, offering numerous practical projects. The College of Education promotes educational equity research from an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on psychology, sociology, and economics. The College of Biological Sciences is the first academic center in the United States dedicated to brain research.
Admission Standards and Costs: Graduate admission typically requires an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0, and international students need a TOEFL score of 80+ or an IELTS score of 7.0+. Some programs waive the GRE requirement. Tuition for the LL.M. program is approximately $57,600 per year, while the annual cost for a Master’s degree in Engineering is approximately $33,000-$36,000. With its exceptionally high graduate employment rate and its location within the Silicon Beach industrial cluster, UCI has become a strategic choice for students worldwide seeking academic advancement and career success.
