University of California – Riverside

ucr accreditation

Degree Programs Available at the University of California – Riverside

University of California – Riverside appears in our ranking of 50 Great Affordable Colleges in the West.

The University of California – Riverside gives students the choice of studying a range of subjects.  Through the five colleges and schools that are part of the university, students can major and earn degrees in more than 80 subjects. Most of the university’s engineering programs are transfer programs that require students to take prerequisite classes and earn good grades before they apply to study engineering. They can choose from bioengineering, chemical engineering, environmental engineering, and other areas. Students who major in public policy need to choose from one of the six tracks that include economic policy, urban and environmental policy, and public policy institutions and processes. Earth sciences, microbiology, studio art, art history, and philosophy are some of the other undergraduate majors available.

An anthropology program is open to graduate students who want to study past cultures and people. It is available as a Master of Arts or a Master of Science and includes opportunities for students to study abroad and do research work. One of the university’s top science graduate programs is one that combines molecular biology with biochemistry. Another program lets students major in creative writing and writing for the performing arts. It teaches students how to write scripts for movies, television shows, and the stage. Some of the other majors open to graduate and doctoral students include electrical engineering, education, microbiology, genetics and bioinformatics, and visual art.

UC Riverside offers a distance abroad program that allows students to study in a foreign country too. Some of the destinations in that program include Russia, Italy, and Thailand. This program also lets students earn credits while they attend classes in another part of the United States such as New York City. Students can get financial aid that covers the costs of a study abroad program too.

About the University of California – Riverside

The University of California – Riverside is a member of the University of California System. Established in 1954, the university opened as an extension campus in that system. It initially offered programs that appealed to students with GI Bill benefits and those who wanted to study agriculture and work in one of the state’s top industries. By the end of the decade, enrollment at the university hit more than 1,000 students, which led to it becoming a full university. Also called UC Riverside and UCR, it now ranks as one of the fastest-growing schools in the UC system. The number of minority students applying increased through the 1990s to make UCR one of the most diverse campuses in the state.

Some of the programs offered by the university that rank among the nation’s best by U.S. News and World Report include earth sciences, English, political science, sociology and computer science. It also ranks within the top 100 of all schools in the country, according to both U.S. News and World Report and Washington Monthly. The university also has a good reputation because of the social mobility it offers, which can help students make friends and connections both on and off its campus. UC Riverside is a selective public university but accepts students who meet its admissions requirements, which helped enrollment rise to include nearly 24,000 students.

University of California – Riverside Accreditation Details

UC Riverside has institutional accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), which is also the regional accreditation that the university needs. This California university can give students financial aid packages that meet their needs and accept some or all of the credits they already earned. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education granted UCR accreditation for its computer science, technology, engineering, and medical education programs. It also has accreditation for its psychology programs.

University of California – Riverside Application Requirements

All incoming freshmen must follow the same application steps when applying to UCR. The university has a 3.0 grade point average requirement for all high school graduates and asks that students take 15 college prep classes and receive a C or higher in each one. Those classes include English, math and science courses. Students will also need to take the ACT or SAT and complete the writing or essay portion of the exam. They will complete the UC Riverside application, which includes a personal insight essay section and test scores and transcripts.

The application requirements that graduate students must meet can vary across programs. Most of the UC Riverside programs ask for a completed application, college transcripts and a GRE score, though some may ask for a GMAT score or an official score from another test. Students may need to go through an interview process and/or submit a resume and letters of recommendation. They often need to provide writing samples too. The art and creative writing programs offered by UCR also require samples of the student’s work such as creative writing papers or studio artwork.

Tuition and Financial Aid

California residents attending UCR full-time pay $15,602 per year for tuition and fees. This cost increases to $44,594 for nonresidents attending the university. Undergrads can choose between living in one of the university’s apartment complexes for $10,000 a year or staying in a dorm room and paying $17,475 each year, which includes a meal plan. Graduate students pay $3,814 per semester as California residents and $8,848 per year as nonresidents. Any student who needs health insurance can purchase a plan from UC Riverside that costs as little as $1,200 a year.

UC Riverside asks that all prospective students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is what helps them get financial aid such as a Cal Grant. The Cal Grant goes to full-time college students who meet income requirements and have good grades. Though the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, the university will add scholarships and other types of financial aid to a student’s package to cover the total cost of his or her tuition and fees. Many students also qualify for work-study, which provides them with part-time jobs at the university. There are student loans and assistant jobs that graduate students can get too. All of the degree programs at the University of California – Riverside give incoming and returning students financial aid.