The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University system and the California Community Colleges system.

The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined system and campus endowment of approximately US$10 billion, the 12th largest in the United States.

Its first campus, UC Berkeley, was founded in 1868, while its tenth and newest campus, UC Merced, opened in the fall of 2005. All campuses enroll both undergraduate and graduate students, with two exceptions: UCSF enrolls only graduate and professional students in the medical and health sciences, and the independently administered UC Hastings enrolls only graduate and professional students in legal studies.