Campus Description — UCLA

At UCLA, students and faculty work together to energize and rejuvenate the communities in which they live. The challenges and rewards of a UCLA education attract students with exceptional levels of academic preparation and intense interests in intellectual and personal growth. UCLA students make up one of the world's most ethnically diverse groups and the largest student body in the UC system, creating a truly innovative and vibrant campus.

Academic Highlights

UCLA offers renowned undergraduate programs in every principal academic field—some 130 undergraduate majors in 109 academic departments with 5,000 courses. Undergraduates may select an academic program from the College of Letters and Science, Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of the Arts and Architecture, School of Nursing, and School of Theater, Film, and Television. Most of the undergraduate programs at UCLA are housed in the College of Letters and Science, which is organized into divisions of social sciences, life sciences, physical sciences and humanities.

Students may augment their coursework by participating in the Honors Program, small seminars and discussion-oriented classes, research, community service projects, internships and study abroad programs.

Open to all students, the Honors Collegium creates a community atmosphere in small, interdisciplinary courses. It encourages extensive interaction between students and faculty across campus—including the graduate professional schools. More than 75 collegium courses are offered each year.

Many UCLA students conduct important, publishable research in collaboration with senior faculty—often as early as their freshman year. Two undergraduate research centers—one for humanities and social sciences, the other for life sciences and physical sciences—help undergraduates identify mentors from every discipline.

UCLA’s international studies programs are among the most diverse of any American university. The UCLA International Institute comprises of 24 multidisciplinary centers that focus on major regions of the world and on global issues that cut across regional boundaries. Each year more than 600 UCLA students travel abroad through the Education Abroad Program.

More than 4,000 scholars and scientists make up the UCLA faculty, which includes five Nobel laureates, as well as Guggenheim fellows, recognized for distinguished research and exceptional promise for the future, and MacArthur fellows, recipients of “genius grants” recognizing intellectual creativity and promise. UCLA faculty are distinguished members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Science and the Institute of Medicine.

Making the community a better place through public service, UCLA students work as mentors to disadvantaged children, as tutors in literacy projects and as volunteers in myriad community endeavors. Undergraduates can even minor in Civic Engagement or Disability Studies. Internship and field-of-study programs, such as the Washington, D.C., Internship Program, provide valuable hands-on experience.

Campus Life

A city within a city, UCLA offers students the opportunity to live, eat, work, bank, shop, visit a doctor, work out at the gym, enjoy a show or stroll through a wooded park without ever leaving campus.

Bruin Walk is the hub of campus activity, where students relax between classes, enjoy midday concerts or participate in rallies.

Well-known lecturers, political figures and entertainers regularly visit the campus. Student activities include theater and dance productions, poetry readings and screenings of new works from UCLA’s world-renowned film and television program.

Students connect through hundreds of campus clubs and organizations, eight student newspapers and magazines, and a range of traditional events such as Homecoming and Spring Sing. Web simulcasts from the student-run campus radio station air creative programming with music, news and discussion.

Sports and UCLA go together. UCLA is renowned for its combination of NCAA team and individual championships, football bowl games and men’s basketball NCAA Tournament appearances, while the women's teams have gained national attention in championship play and titles in gymnastics and softball.