The University of California announced today (Jan. 28) that the system received for fall 2021 admission the highest number of undergraduate applications in its history, even in the midst of a global pandemic. Highlights among California freshmen include a jump in overall applications and surges among African American and Chicano/Latino students, while California Community College transfer applications also grew by an impressive margin.

Gov. Newsom’s budget provides $136.3 million of new ongoing support to the University of California, including $103.9 million to partly restore the $300.8 million in reductions made last year to UC. The proposal also includes $32.4 million for ongoing targeted investments in other areas, such as expanding access for student mental health services and supporting UC Programs in Medical Education (UC PRIME), which combine specialized coursework and training experiences that allow future physicians to better support underserved populations.

University of California President Michael V. Drake, M.D., has been appointed chair of UC’s National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. 

University of California President Michael V. Drake, M.D., released today (Oct. 6) the statement below following the announcement of Nobel Prize winners in physics. UCLA’s Andrea Ghez, a Lauren B. Leichtman and Arthur E. Levine Professor of Astrophysics, and UC Berkeley’s Reinhard Genzel, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy, and director at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, have been honored with the 2020 Nobel Prize in physics. Ghez is the fourth woman to win a Nobel Prize in physics.

The University of California applauds and fully supports the California Climate Investment Framework spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newsom in collaboration with the state’s three pension plans.

The University of California’s Office of the Chief Investment Officer (UC Investments) announced today (Sept. 15) that its assets under management grew to $140 billion as of August 31, 2020, a $10 billion jump from the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2020. That represents a 47 percent increase since 2014.

The University of California Office of the Chief Investment Officer of the Regents announced today (May 19) that its investment portfolios are fossil free after the sale of more than $1 billion in assets from its pension, endowment and working capital pools. At the same time, the office has surpassed its five-year goal of investing $1 billion in promising clean energy projects.

University of California President Janet Napolitano issued a statement today (May 6) regarding the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) announcement of final Title IX rules, which will impact the handling of cases of sexual harassment, including sexual violence, by universities and colleges across the country.

The University of California will establish the National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement in Washington, D.C., as part of a concerted educational, research and advocacy effort centered on the First Amendment’s critical importance to American democracy, UC President Janet Napolitano announced today (Oct. 26).