Founded in 1868, the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) is a leading public research university and the flagship institution within the University of California system.
Berkeley is one of the 14 founding members of the Association of American Universities and hosts several prestigious research institutes, including the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and the Space Sciences Laboratory.
The university’s distinguished alumni, faculty, and researchers include 99 Nobel laureates, 23 Turing Award winners, and 14 Pulitzer Prize winners. Notably, faculty member J. Robert Oppenheimer led the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bomb, while Nobel laureate Ernest Lawrence invented the cyclotron, allowing Berkeley scientists to discover 16 new chemical elements.
Starting with just over 40 students, Berkeley quickly grew as California’s first comprehensive university. By the early 1940s, it had expanded significantly and was ranked just behind Harvard.
In the 1940s, Berkeley’s radiation laboratory gained further acclaim for its role in the atomic bomb development project. The 1960s brought Berkeley global attention for its student activism, particularly through the Free Speech Movement of 1964 and its opposition to the Vietnam War. In 1969, then-Governor Ronald Reagan labeled the campus a “haven for communist sympathizers, protesters, and sex deviants,” although today’s students are generally more politically moderate.
The Berkeley campus covers approximately 1,232 acres in the San Francisco Bay Area and features many Beaux-Arts-style buildings recognized as California Historical Landmarks.
With around 40,000 students, three-quarters of whom are undergraduates, the campus buzzes with youthful energy in its dynamic, urban setting. Most undergraduates live in residential halls, where they can form friendships, study, and engage in a supportive community designed to enhance their academic experience.
Additionally, there are student co-ops and non-profit housing options, with over 1,300 students living in 17 houses and three apartment cooperatives around the campus. Students can participate in sports, join various clubs and societies, and explore a wide range of interests. On campus, they can visit the Lawrence Hall of Science, enjoy sports at the newly renovated California Memorial Stadium, attend noon concerts, or socialize at Sproul Plaza, the heart of Berkeley’s social life.
