UC v. CSU: the difference

eugenia · February 19, 2007, 2:27am

I tried searching but I couldn’t find a thread dedicated to just this.

Basically, what are the differences between UCs and CSUs?
Does the UC degree hold a higher level of prestiege?
Do more UC grads go onto grad school/ higher education?
Why do some of the CSUs have a lower acceptance rate than UCs?

I’ve always looked at the system in california as going tier by tier:

UCs
CSUs
Community Colleges

but i guess maybe it’s not so?

thanks in advance for helping my confusion :]

kyledavid80 · February 19, 2007, 2:31am

From Wikipedia:

Both university systems are California publicly funded higher education institutions. Despite having fewer students, some individual UC campuses, as a result of their research emphasis and medical centers, have larger budgets than the entire CSU system. In reference to CSU’s second-tier status, the State Librarian Emeritus Kevin Starr has described the CSU as “in so many ways the Rodney Dangerfield of public higher education.”[5]

According to the California Master Plan for Higher Education (1960), both university systems may confer Bachelors or Master’s degrees as well as professional certifications, however only the University of California has the authority to issue Ph.D degree (Doctor of Philosophy) and professional degrees in the fields of law, medicine, veterinary, and dentistry. As a result of recent legislation (SB 724), the California State University may now offer the Ed.D degree (also known as the Doctor of Education or “education doctorate degree”) to its graduate students as well as certain types of professional doctorate degrees (for instance, audiology, etc.). Additionally, the California State University (CSU) offers Ph.D degree (Doctor of Philosophy) as a “joint degree” in combination with other institutions of higher education, including “joint degrees” with the University of California (UC) and accredited private universities. This is why, for instance, San Diego State can qualify as a “Research University with high research activity” (Carnegie Foundation link) by offering 16 doctoral degrees.

The CSU attempts to accept applicants from the top one-third of California high school graduates. In contrast, the UC attempts to accept the top 12.5%. In an effort to maintain a 60/40 ratio of upper division students to lower division students and to encourage students to attend a California community college first, both university systems give priority to California community college transfer students. The state, which funds all three institutions, encourages the practice because community colleges are cheaper to maintain.[citation needed]

Historically the requirements for admission to the CSU have been less stringent than the UC system. However, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has always had higher admissions standards than the rest of the CSU system. An impacted campus or major is one which has more CSU-qualified students than capacity permits. As of 2006, Long Beach, San Diego, and San Luis Obispo are impacted for both freshmen and transfers, while Fullerton, Pomona, and Sonoma are impacted for freshmen. Thus, these campuses have higher admission standards than the CSU minimum. In addition, some programs at other campuses are similarly impacted. Despite this, CSU undergraduate admissions are quantitatively based and generally do not include items such as personal statements, SAT Subject Test scores, letters of recommendation, or portfolios. In addition, there is geographic preference given to those residing within the commute area of the school. [1] The California Maritime Academy uses a different admissions process from other CSU schools.

There are 23 CSU campuses and 10 UC campuses representing 414,000 and 191,000 students respectively. The cost of CSU tuition is approximately half that of UC. Thus, the CSU system has been referred to by California residents as “The People’s University.”

CSU and UC use the terms “president” and “chancellor” internally in exactly opposite ways: At CSU, the campuses are headed by “presidents” who report to a systemwide “chancellor”; but at UC, they are headed by “chancellors” who report to a systemwide “president”. Both usages are found in similar systems in the other U.S. states.

<a href=“California State University - Wikipedia”>California State University - Wikipedia;

The UCs generally have higher prestige.

Acceptance rate means little. For example, a university could simply get many applicants who aren’t up to par and thus are rejected, making the acceptance rate low. Oppositely, if the university gets a bunch of students who are up to par (what many call “self selective”), then its acceptance rate is higher; such is true for UChicago, which has a 40% acceptance rate, but is very difficult to get into. Look at the statistics of the schools (GPA, SAT, etc.) rather than the acceptance rate.

In addition, some CSUs, I would argue, are on par with UCs, like Cal Poly SLO – I’d say it’s roughly at the level of UCI or UCSB for undergrad.

Your tiers are right.

Gravitas3 · February 20, 2007, 5:08pm

Basically, what are the differences between UCs and CSUs?

UC’s are more theory/research oriented in their scope wheras CSU’s are more applied/career-oriented. UC’s are the schools to attend if you want a better chance to go to a top grad school and CSU’s are more appropriate for those who want a job after getting their bachelors, of course this is generally speaking. For example, most CSU’s have business/accounting as part of their undergrad curriculum and UC’s for the most part don’t.

Does the UC degree hold a higher level of prestiege? Yes. But the level of prestige doesn’t always lead to a higher income/career success, if that’s your thing. I know many CSU grads who earn top dollar in successful careers and UC grads with dead-end relatively low paying jobs. It really depends on what discipline you decide to study in school, motivations, focus and your long-term career goals.

Do more UC grads go onto grad school/ higher education? Yes

Why do some of the CSUs have a lower acceptance rate than UCs?

The CSU system is often referred to as the “people’s university” and therefore is more accessible to the greater public. They are “forced” by law to take applicants who are situated in a surrounding geographic area designated for each school who meet minimum qualifications (if not impacted). So some CSU’s would then naturally “inherit” better students than others depending on their geographic location.

coureur · February 20, 2007, 7:56pm

UCs are definitely more prestigeous, but your success in life will depend far more on your own abilities and not on whether you went to a Cal State or a UC. Example: I have worked for over 25 in biotech research and the smartest scientist I ever had the pleasure of working with, and who has published work of national recognition and prominence, got her BS at SDSU and her PhD at a mid-tier UC. Going to college at a Cal State didn’t slow her down at all.

NextMikeSays · February 20, 2007, 11:26pm

I know a VP of R&D a prominent biotech that employs over 26,000 employees who got his BS at SDSU as well. He has worked with some prominent scientist including one of the founders of the Scripps Institute back when it was called the Scripps Clinic. For most jobs, once you get in a company it’s all about performance, hunger and drive. Unless you want to work in IB or MC, pedigree isn’t really an issue.

Also, many times UC grads sometimes are a risk to hire in biotech although the come from great science schools. The main reason being is that many of them are looking to pass time until re-applying for dental school/med school/pharm school, etc and don’t consider biotech to be a career while CSU students tend to stay longer. This is just from personal experience and observation.

UC v. CSU: the difference

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