Beckman Institute at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Photo by Canon_vs_nikon, Wikimedia Commons.
Los Angeles County boasts three among the nation's top 50 universities, according to the 2026 U.S. News National University Rankings:
- California Institute of Technology (ranked #11; second in California only to #4 Stanford)
- University of California, Los Angeles (ranked #17, tied with Rice and Vanderbilt Universities)
- University of Southern California (ranked #28)
Also see:
-- Tuition for Four-Year Colleges & Universities in Los Angeles County
-- Community Colleges & Private 2-Year Colleges in Los Angeles County
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Film Institute Conservatory | Masters | 423 | Non-Profit | 1967 | Los Angeles 90027 |
| American Jewish University | Masters | 108 | Religious | 1947 | Bel Air |
| ArtCenter College of Design | Masters | 2,420 | Non-Profit | 1930 | Pasadena |
| Azusa Pacific University | Doctorate | 7,169 | Religious | 1899 | Azusa |
| Biola University | Doctorate | 5,387 | Religious | 1908 | La Mirada |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| California Institute of Advanced Management | Masters | 131 | Non-Profit | 2011 | Alhambra |
| California Institute of Technology | Doctorate | 2,401 | Non-Profit | 1891 | Pasadena |
| California Institute of the Arts | Doctorate | 1,440 | Non-Profit | 1961 | Valencia |
| California State Polytechnic Univ., Pomona | Doctorate | 27,503 | Public | 1938 | Pomona |
| California State Univ., Dominguez Hills | Masters | 16,426 | Public | 1960 | Carson |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| California State Univ., Long Beach | Doctorate | 38,973 | Public | 1949 | Long Beach 90840 |
| California State Univ., Los Angeles | Doctorate | 26,460 | Public | 1947 | Los Angeles 90032 |
| California State Univ., Northridge | Doctorate | 37,579 | Public | 1958 | Northridge |
| Cedars-Sinai Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences | Doctorate | 75(2) | Non-Profit | 2008 | Los Angeles 90048 |
| Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science | Doctorate | 777 | Non-Profit | 1966 | Los Angeles 90059 |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Claremont Graduate University (Claremont Colleges) | Doctorate | 1,903 | Non-Profit | 1925 | Claremont |
| Claremont Lincoln University | Masters | 220 | Non-Profit | 2011 | Claremont |
| Claremont McKenna College (Claremont Colleges) | Masters | 1,389 | Non-Profit | 1946 | Claremont |
| Claremont School of Theology | Doctorate | 196 | Non-Profit | 1885 | Claremont |
| Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) | Masters | 1,814 | For-Profit | 1969 | Los Angeles 90015 |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Fuller Theological Seminary | Doctorate | 2,089 | Religious | 1947 | Pasadena |
| Harvey Mudd College (Claremont Colleges) | Bachelors | 922 | Non-Profit | 1955 | Claremont |
| Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion | Doctorate | 318 | Religious | 1954 | Los Angeles 90007 |
| Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences at City of Hope | Doctorate | 95(3) | Non-Profit | 1994 | Duarte |
| Keck Graduate Institute | Doctorate | 668 | Non-Profit | 1997 | Claremont |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Life Pacific College | Masters | 500 | Religious | 1925 | San Dimas |
| Los Angeles Pacific University(4) | Masters | 1,895 | Religious | 2018 | San Dimas |
| Loyola Marymount University | Doctorate | 10,165 | Religious | 1865 | Los Angeles 90045 |
| Mount Saint Mary's University (5) | Doctorate | 1,942 | Religious | 1925 | Los Angeles 90049/ Brentwood |
| Occidental College | Masters | 1,312 | Non-Profit | 1888 | Los Angeles 90041 |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Otis College of Art & Design | Masters | 1,068 | Non-Profit | 1917 | Los Angeles 90045 |
| Pacific Oaks College | Masters | 126 | Non-Profit | 1945 | Pasadena |
| Pardee RAND Graduate School | Doctorate | 10,030 | Non-Profit | 1970 | Santa Monica |
| Pepperdine University | Doctorate | 1,212 | Religious | 1937 | Malibu |
| Pitzer College (Claremont Colleges) | Bachelors | 1,716 | Non-Profit | 1963 | Claremont |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Pomona College (Claremont Colleges) | Bachelors | 136 | Non-Profit | 1887 | Claremont |
| Providence Christian College | Bachelors | 1,099 | Religious | 2005 | Pasadena |
| Saybrook University | Doctorate | 1,013 | Non-Profit | 1971 | Pasadena |
| Scripps College (Claremont Colleges) (5) | Bachelors | 507 | Non-Profit | 1926 | Claremont |
| Southern California Institute of Architecture | Masters | 1,636 | Non-Profit | 1972 | Los Angeles 90013 |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Southern California University of Health Sciences | Doctorate | 500 | Non-Profit | 1911 | Whittier |
| The Chicago School of Professional Psychology | Doctorate | 2,606 | Non-Profit | 2008 | Los Angeles 90017 |
| The Master's University & Seminary | Doctorate | 494 | Religious | 1927 | Santa Clarita |
| University of California, Los Angeles | Doctorate | 5,662 | Public | 1919 | Los Angeles 90095 |
| University of La Verne | Doctorate | 48,945 | Non-Profit | 1891 | La Verne |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| University of Southern California | Doctorate | 164 | Non-Profit | 1880 | Los Angeles 90089 |
| University of the People | Masters | 2,620 | Non-Profit | 2009 | Pasadena |
| University of the West | Doctorate | 164 | Religious | 1990 | Rosemead |
| University of West Los Angeles | Doctorate | 229 | For-Profit | 1966 | Inglewood/ Chatsworth |
| Western University of Health Sciences | Doctorate | 3,724 | Non-Profit | 1975 | Pomona |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Whittier College | Masters | 1,192 | Non-Profit | 1887 | Whittier |
| Woodbury University | Masters | 943 | Non-Profit | 1884 | Burbank |
* Listed institutions, as of 2025, are accredited by a regional accreditation association, such as the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC), or other similar body.
(1) Unless otherwise noted, enrollment numbers are for school year 2024-2025 from the National Center of Education Statistics.
(2) Enrollment number provided from institution website.
(3) 2021 enrollment number from Data USA.
(4) Online college spun-off as independent institution from Azusa Pacific University.
(5) Primarily a women’s college.
UCLA has the largest student enrollment of the University of California Campuses. Source: University of California.
In the 2024-2025 academic year, USC enrolled 17,884 foreign students - the fifth largest enrollment of foreign students among U.S. institutions of higher learning. Locally, UCLA followed in 14th place with 10,767 foreign students. Source: Open Doors Data.
UCLA is the only campus among the nation's top 10 research universities that was established in the 20th century.
The University of Southern California is a private research university of international distinction, and as such, the oldest in the Western United States. The university attracts students from all 50 states and 107 other countries.
California Institute of the Arts was founded in 1961 with the help of Walt and Roy Disney and Lulu May Von Hagen. It merged the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music (founded 1883) and Chouinard Art Institute (founded 1921).
Aerial View of UCLA campus, looking northwest, 1930s. Sunset Boulevard curves in upper part of image. Photo from UCLA Archive.
Click on image for larger image.
The California Graduate Institute merged with The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in 2008. The California Graduate Institute was the first independent graduate school of psychology in the nation, founded in 1968.
Whittier College was founded in 1887 by members of the Society of Friends (Quakers).
Marymount California University, once a Catholic two-year college, founded in 1932, that later expanded into a four-year college, closed its doors in 2022. The college found its enrollment dropping and could no longer sustain its programs. The campus in Rancho Palos Verdes was purchased, shortly after the closing, by UCLA to be operated as a satellite campus of that university.
Cleveland Chiropractic College Los Angeles, founded in 1911, closed in 2011.
The California College of ASU, an independent non-profit affiliate of Arizona State University that had taken over Columbia College Hollywood in 2022, closed its educational programs at the end of 2025.
The University of Antelope Valley, a for-profit accreditated college, opened in 2009 in Lancaster, ended up on accreditation probation in 2023 for failure to meet certain standards. The institution had been purchased, just the year before, by Genius Group Ltd., a Singapore technology company. In early 2024, the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education ordered the school to close by March 2024.
