CSU or UC? That’s a common question for students that either plan to transfer or go to a university right after high school.
Both of these systems are good in their own ways depending on what the student needs — but both systems work differently.
According to California’s website, the main difference is that the UC’s focus is more on academia, research, and theory skills, while CSU’s focus is more on hands-on, practical, and non-research based skills.
There are 10 schools in the University of California system: UC Merced, UC Davis, UC Riverside, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Francisco, UC San Diego and UC Berkeley.
There are 23 California State University schools: Sacramento State, Stanislaus State, Fresno State, Chico State, Sonoma State, CSU East Bay, San Francisco State, San Jose State, CSU Monterey Bay, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CSU Bakersfield, CSU Channel Islands, CSU Northridge, Cal State LA, CSU Dominguez Hills, CSU Long Beach, CSU Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona, CSU San Bernandino, CSU San Marcos, San Diego State, and Cal Poly Humboldt.
Another stark difference is in the cost. According to the California State University website, the average cost of tuition for undergrad California residents at a UC is approximately $13,752. According to the University of California website, the average cost of tuition for undergrad California residents at a CSU taking six or more units is approximately $5,750, which is significantly lower than the cost at UCs. The costs of UCs and CSUs also vary depending on whether a student will live on campus and whether they’re a non-California resident.
UC acceptance rates are significantly lower than the acceptance rate at CSUs. For UCs, the average acceptance rate is approximately 42.11 percent. The average acceptance rate for CSUs is approximately 79.13 percent.
According to Delta’s website, 60 percent of CSU students are transfer students, or in other words, come from a community college. UC’s website shows that 48 percent of their students are transfer students.
