Beckman Institute at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Photo by Canon_vs_nikon, Wikimedia Commons.
Los Angeles County boasts four universities within the nation's top 50 universities, according to the 2021 U.S. News National University Rankings:
- California Institute of Technology (ranked #9, tied with Johns Hopkins, Northwestern and Duke; second in California only to #6 Stanford)
- University of California, Los Angeles (ranked #20)
- University of Southern California (ranked #24, tied with U. Michigan-Ann Arbor)
- Pepperdine University (ranked #49, tied with Lehigh, Northeastern, U. Miami)
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Academy for Jewish Religion California | Masters | 60 | Religious | 2000 | Los Angeles 90024 |
American Film Institute Conservatory | Masters | 334 | Non-Profit | 1967 | Los Angeles 90027 |
American Jewish University | Masters | 108 | Religious | 1947 | Bel Air |
Antioch University | Masters | 792 | For-Profit | 1972 | Culver City |
ArtCenter College of Design | Masters | 2,335 | Non-Profit | 1930 | Pasadena |
School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
Azusa Pacific University | Doctorate | 9,297 | Religious | 1899 | Azusa |
Biola University | Doctorate | 6,103 | Religious | 1908 | La Mirada |
California Institute of Technology | Doctorate | 2,237 | Non-Profit | 1891 | Pasadena |
California Institute of the Arts | Doctorate | 1,520 | Non-Profit | 1961 | Valencia |
California State Polytechnic Univ., Pomona | Doctorate | 28,058 | Public | 1938 | Pomona |
School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
California State Univ., Dominguez Hills | Masters | 17,977 | Public | 1960 | Carson |
California State Univ., Long Beach | Doctorate | 38,674 | Public | 1949 | Long Beach 90840 |
California State Univ., Los Angeles | Doctorate | 26,671 | Public | 1947 | Los Angeles 90032 |
California State Univ., Northridge | Doctorate | 39,910 | Public | 1958 | Northridge |
Cedars-Sinai Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences | Doctorate | 40 (2) | Non-Profit | 2008 | Los Angeles 90048 |
School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science | Doctorate | 748 | Non-Profit | 1966 | Los Angeles 90059 |
Claremont Graduate University (Claremont Colleges) | Doctorate | 1,950 | Non-Profit | 1925 | Claremont |
Claremont Lincoln University | Masters | 254 | Non-Profit | 2011 | Claremont |
Claremont McKenna College (Claremont Colleges) | Masters | 1,346 | Non-Profit | 1946 | Claremont |
Claremont School of Theology | Doctorate | 331 | Non-Profit | 1885 | Claremont |
School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
Columbia College Hollywood | Bachelors | 870 | Non-Profit | 1952 | Tarzana |
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) | Masters | 2,227 | For-Profit | 1969 | Los Angeles 90015 |
Fuller Theological Seminary | Doctorate | 2,265 | Religious | 1947 | Pasadena |
Harvey Mudd College (Claremont Colleges) | Bachelors | 904 | Non-Profit | 1955 | Claremont |
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion | Doctorate | N/A | Religious | 1954 | Los Angeles 90007 |
School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences at City of Hope | Doctorate | 91 | Non-Profit | 1994 | Duarte |
Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences | Doctorate | 580 | Non-Profit | 1997 | Claremont |
Life Pacific College | Masters | 552 | Religious | 1925 | San Dimas |
Logos Evangelical Seminary | Doctorate | 185 (2) | Religious | 1989 | El Monte |
Los Angeles Film School | Bachelors | 5,151 | For-Profit | 1999 | Hollywood 90028 |
School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
Los Angeles Pacific University | Masters | 1,953 | Religious | 2018 | San Dimas |
Loyola Marymount University | Doctorate | 9,822 | Religious | 1865 | Los Angeles 90045 |
Marymount California University | Masters | 647 | Religious | 1932 | Rancho Palos Verdes |
Mount Saint Mary's University (3) | Doctorate | 2,855 | Religious | 1925 | Los Angeles 90049 |
Occidental College | Masters | 1,985 | Non-Profit | 1888 | Los Angeles 90041 |
School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
Otis College of Art & Design | Masters | 1,183 | Non-Profit | 1917 | Los Angeles 90045 |
Pacific Oaks College | Masters | 1,163 | Non-Profit | 1945 | Pasadena |
Pardee RAND Graduate School | Doctorate | 108 | Non-Profit | 1970 | Santa Monica |
Pepperdine University | Doctorate | 8,824 | Religious | 1937 | Malibu |
Pitzer College (Claremont Colleges) | Bachelors | 1,086 | Non-Profit | 1963 | Claremont |
School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
Pomona College (Claremont Colleges) | Bachelors | 1,637 | Non-Profit | 1887 | Claremont |
Providence Christian College | Bachelors | 151 | Religious | 2005 | Pasadena |
Scripps College (Claremont Colleges) (3) | Bachelors | 1,109 | Non-Profit | 1926 | Claremont |
Southern California Institute of Architecture | Masters | 497 | Non-Profit | 1972 | Los Angeles 90013 |
Southern California University of Health Sciences | Doctorate | 1,386 | Non-Profit | 1911 | Whittier |
School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
The Broad Center at Yale School of Management | Masters | N/A | Non-Profit | 2001 | Los Angeles 90067 |
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology | Doctorate | 2,999 | Non-Profit | 2008 | Los Angeles 90017 |
The Master's University & Seminary | Doctorate | 2,006 | Religious | 1927 | Santa Clarita |
Touro College Los Angeles | Bachelors | 1,940 | Non-Profit | 2005 (4) | West Hollywood |
University of Antelope Valley | Masters | 814 | For-Profit | 2009 | Lancaster |
School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
University of California, Los Angeles | Doctorate | 44,371 | Public | 1919 | Los Angeles 90095 |
University of La Verne | Doctorate | 7,396 | Non-Profit | 1891 | La Verne |
University of Southern California | Doctorate | 48,321 | Non-Profit | 1880 | Los Angeles 90089 |
University of the West | Doctorate | 284 | Religious | 1990 | Rosemead |
Western University of Health Sciences | Doctorate | 3,792 | Non-Profit | 1975 | Pomona |
School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
Whittier College | Masters | 1,841 | Non-Profit | 1887 | Whittier |
Woodbury University | Masters | 1,225 | Non-Profit | 1884 | Burbank |
Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad/West Coast Talmudical Seminary | Bachelors | 138 | Religious | 1977 | Los Angeles 90046 |
* Listed institutions, as of 2021, are accredited by a regional accreditation association, such as the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC), or other similar body.
N/A Information not available
(1) Except where otherwise noted, enrollment numbers are for 2019 from the National Center of Education Statistics
(2) Enrollment number for 2016
(3) Primarily a women’s college
(4) Year in which campus in West Hollywood established
Touro College Los Angeles is the only regionally-accredited Orthodox Jewish college in the West Coast.
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).
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).
Cleveland Chiropractic College Los Angeles, founded in 1911, closed in 2011.
UCLA is the only campus among the nation's top 10 research universities that was established in the 20th century.
Aerial View of University of California Los Angeles Campus, 1933. Photo by Airscapes Program, U.S. War Department, courtesy of the National Archives.
UCLA is the largest (per enrollment) of the University of California Campuses.
USC has the second largest enrollment of foreign students in the nation.