<p>What is the difference between UC and private or public college and what does UC stand for?</p>
<p>UC can mean any number of things. On the west coast, it usually refers to the University of California–and is followed by the initial of the city where the campus is located; B for Berkeley, D for Davis, etc. In the midwest, many people refer to the Univ. of Cincinnati as UC. I’m not sure if people refer to the Univ. of Chicago or the Univ. of Colorado as UC.</p>
<p>Most often when you see UC referred to on this site it is the University of California, which itself is made up of numerous different colleges/campuses including its two highest ranked, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of California at Berkeley (sometimes referred to as UC Berkeley, Berkeley, or just California or Cal). All the UCs are public universities (mainly meaning supported by state tax dollars).</p>
<p>Most people call the University of Chicago U of C. I’ve only seen it referred to as UC by people who haven’t attended.</p>
<p>The University of California is arguably the greatest public university system in the world.</p>