Meta Description: Looking for a quick guide to institutions of higher education in Orange County, California? Read on for our list of the area’s colleges and universities.
Meta Keywords: Colleges in Orange County, Orange County Colleges, Universities in Orange County, Orange County Universities
Orange County is Home to Many Colleges and Universities
Orange County, California is known for a great many things. But, beyond the amusement parks, citrus oranges, golf courses, and resorts there is a community that seems to almost specialize in higher education. Read on for our abridged list of the public and private, secular and religious, two-year and four-year colleges and universities …show more content…
of Orange County.
Public Universities
California State University, Fullerton (CSUF)
http://www.fullerton.edu/
Cal State Fullerton, also known as CSUF or Fullerton State University, is a part of the California State University System.
With a student body nearing forty-thousand in number, it is the largest of the twenty-three California state universities and the largest university in the entire state, public or private. With a graduate student population of just over five thousand it is the largest public graduate school and one of the largest over all in the state. The staff numbers nearly two-thousand, of which just over a third are tenure track and offers undergraduate degrees in more than 240 disciplines, more than one hundred courses of study leading to a Master’s degree, and three Doctoral programs.
University of California, Irvine (UCI)
https://uci.edu/
The University of California, Irvine, or UC Irvine, is a public university and a member of the California State University System. It is primarily known as a research University and manages a health care system as well. UC Irvine has more than thirty thousand students and just over a thousand staff members. The university offers undergraduate degrees in eighty disciplines and nearly one hundred graduate and professional degrees. The University also maintains an arboretum and is partially responsible for the University of California Natural Reserve System.
Private Secular Universities
Anaheim
University
https://www.anaheim.edu/
A for-profit college located in Anaheim, this school is nationally accredited and offers four-year degrees and graduate programs. It was initially opened in 1996 a as the Newport Asia Pacific University, but later changed its named to Anaheim University.
Western State College of Law at Argosy University
http://www.wsulaw.edu/
Argosy University’s Western State College of Law is owned privately by the Education Management Corporation. It was established in Fullerton in 1966 as the Western State University College of Law and has the distinction of being the oldest continually operating law school in all of Orange County. It’s name was changed in 2012.
Whittier Law School
https://www.law.whittier.edu/
Founded in Costa Mesa as the Beverly College of Law in 1966 to provide legal educations to women and older students, Whittier Law School is now a fully accredited law school that functions as a part of nearby Whittier College.
Springfield College
http://springfield.edu/school-of-professional-and-continuing-studies/springfield-college-southern-california
Orange County’s Springfield College of Professional and Continuing Studies was founded with the specific goal of facilitating the education of working adults in the human services. It offers professional and continuing education courses as well as Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs in human services.
Private Religious Universities
Chapman University
www.chapman.edu
Chapman University is a private non-profit Orange County university that is affiliated with the Disciples of Christ. The university is split into eight colleges providing students with undergraduate and graduate degree programs in film and media arts, the humanities and social sciences, business and economics, the sciences and technology, the performing arts, law, pharmacy studies, and education. The university has just under seven thousand students.
Concordia University
http://www.cui.edu/
Like Lutheran Missouri Synod affiliated Concordias throughout the country, Concordia University Irvine is a private Christian school. Concordia offers students a wide variety of undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and adult degree programs. They are also highly regarded as a regional university.
Trinity Law School
http://lawschool.tiu.edu/
Trinity Law School is a non-profit, private law school that was founded in 1980 as the Simon Greenleaf School of Law. It is an accredited Christian-affiliated law school conferring the Juris Doctor degree.
Vanguard University
http://www.vanguard.edu/
Vanguard University of Southern California is a private, Christian university of liberal arts and professional studies in Costa Mesa, California. The school offers over 30 undergraduate degrees and emphases in 15 different departments. Vanguard University also offers adult-learning programs in its professional studies department and features six graduate degrees.
Four-year Colleges
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
http://fidm.edu/
A for-profit private school founded in 1968, the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising offers Bachelor’s degree courses of study in entertainment, beauty, fashion, graphic design, and interior design. Laguna College of Art and Design
http://www.lcad.edu/
Laguna College of Art and Design is a very small private college specializing in the fine arts and design. The offer Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in painting and drawing, animation, design and digital media, game art, and illustration.
Southern California Institute of Technology
https://www.scitech.edu/
Founded in 1987, the Southern California Institute of Technology is an independent, private college located in Anaheim. The school offers a wide variety of degree and certificate programs.
Community Colleges
Orange county also boasts a very robust selection of public two-year or community colleges, including Coastline Community College, Cypress College, Fullerton College, Golden West College, Irvine Valley College, Orange Coast College, Saddleback College, Santa Ana College, and Santiago Canyon College.
Additionally, some for-profit, public, and private institutions that are not based in the Orange County area operate satellite campuses within the County. These institutions include Pepperdine University, National University, and the University of Southern California. Orange County is a Southern California Hub for Higher Education
As you can see by this massive and abbreviated list, Orange County is a major center for undergraduate, graduate, professional, and continuing education. Between the areas private, public, and for-profit institutions there is something for just about any prospective student here.