University of California-Riverside

Public · Moderately Selective · CA

Photo: Advythr (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationCA · West

SettingUrban

Undergrads22,593

Student:faculty22:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate65.2%

6-yr grad rate76%

Drop-out rate12.4%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$16k

Out-of-state tuition$50k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity89.7%

Gender diversity52.6%

International3.7%

Identity—

Overview

UC Riverside grew out of a citrus research station and sits at the base of the Box Springs Mountains in Southern California's Inland Empire, about an hour east of Los Angeles. It has built a distinct identity within the University of California system around social mobility and opportunity, regularly recognized for the outcomes it produces for first-generation and low-income students, a mission that shapes the campus's culture as much as any single academic program does.

Academics

Agricultural, environmental, and entomological sciences remain areas of real depth, a legacy of the campus's research-station origins that still shows up in strong plant and insect biology research. Engineering and business have grown into increasingly strong programs as the campus has expanded, and the medical school, one of the newer in the UC system, has begun to strengthen pre-health pathways for undergraduates. Research opportunities are broadly accessible to undergraduates given the university's research-intensive UC designation, even for students outside the most famous programs.

Campus & student life

The Inland Empire setting is warmer and less expensive than coastal California, and the campus itself has a spread-out, sunny character typical of Southern California public universities, with palm-lined walkways and a citrus-grove heritage still visible in parts of campus. It draws heavily from California's Central Valley and Inland Empire communities alongside students from across the state, giving it a noticeably different social character than the more coastal UC campuses.

Getting in

UCR's admissions process follows the UC system's comprehensive review, weighing academic achievement alongside personal context, and the university is known for taking a chance on strong students whose backgrounds, first-generation status, or high school resources might be overlooked at more selective UC campuses. It has become a common landing spot within the UC system for well-qualified students who are not admitted to the most selective UC campuses.

After graduation

UCR has an unusually strong track record of moving first-generation and low-income students into stable, well-paying careers, a pattern that shows up repeatedly in social-mobility rankings and is central to how the university describes its own mission. Graduates in agriculture and environmental sciences move into state and federal agencies and graduate programs, while business and engineering graduates increasingly find work across Southern California's job market.

Worth knowing

UCR's reputation within the UC system is sometimes underrated relative to its actual research strength, since it is often viewed as a fallback for students who wanted a more selective UC campus. Students who choose it deliberately, rather than as a backup, often find genuine research access and a less cutthroat academic culture than at the most selective UC schools.

ucr.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate76.4%

Enrolled mid-50%—

Test policynot used

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Regular decisionNov 30

Applying (2026-27 cycle)

Apply through UC application.

Financial aid formsMar 2

Verified from the school’s admissions pages ↗