For what it is worth, here are the colleges and universities in California:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1ODpXFDNypx6dcw6-yror_ZLuBkc&hl=en&ll=37.88080117341992%2C-119.25502357031246&z=6
Yellow = community college
Green = CSU
Red = UC
Purple = private
You can pretty much tell from the map where the population density is higher versus lower, since the community colleges and CSUs were mainly built to serve local populations, and even the UC locations were selected with some consideration for serving local populations.