Beckman Institute at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Photo by Canon_vs_nikon, Wikimedia Commons.
Los Angeles County boasts three among the nation's top 50 universities, according to the 2024 U.S. News National University Rankings:
- California Institute of Technology (ranked #6, tied with Duke Univ., Johns Hopkins Univ., and Northwestern Univ.; second in California only to #4 Stanford)
- University of California, Los Angeles (ranked #15, tied with Dartmouth College)
- University of Southern California (ranked #27, tied with Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Also see:
-- Tuition for Four-Year Colleges & Universities in Los Angeles County
-- Community Colleges & Private 2-Year Colleges in Los Angeles County
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy for Jewish Religion California | Masters | 40 | Religious | 2000 | Los Angeles 90024 |
| Alliant International University - Los Angeles | Doctorate | 600 (2) | For-Profit | 2001 | Alhambra |
| AMDA College of the Performing Arts | Bachelors | 1,511 | Non-Profit | 2003 | Los Angeles 90028 |
| American Film Institute Conservatory | Masters | 389 | Non-Profit | 1967 | Los Angeles 90027 |
| American Jewish University | Masters | 209 | Religious | 1947 | Bel Air |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| American University of Health Sciences | Masters | 523 | Religious | 1994 | Signal Hill |
| ArtCenter College of Design | Masters | 2,382 | Non-Profit | 1930 | Pasadena |
| Azusa Pacific University | Doctorate | 6,487 | Religious | 1899 | Azusa |
| Biola University | Doctorate | 5,296 | Religious | 1908 | La Mirada |
| California College of ASU (3) | Bachelors | 149 | Non-Profit | 1952 | Los Angeles 90015 |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| California Institute of Advanced Management | Masters | 131 | Non-Profit | 2011 | Alhambra |
| California Institute of Technology | Doctorate | 2,401 | Non-Profit | 1891 | Pasadena |
| California Institute of the Arts | Doctorate | 1,440 | Non-Profit | 1961 | Valencia |
| California State Polytechnic Univ., Pomona | Doctorate | 27,503 | Public | 1938 | Pomona |
| California State Univ., Dominguez Hills | Masters | 15,181 | Public | 1960 | Carson |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| California State Univ., Long Beach | Doctorate | 40,278 | Public | 1949 | Long Beach 90840 |
| California State Univ., Los Angeles | Doctorate | 25,080 | Public | 1947 | Los Angeles 90032 |
| California State Univ., Northridge | Doctorate | 37,760 | Public | 1958 | Northridge |
| Cedars-Sinai Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences | Doctorate | 75 (2) | Non-Profit | 2008 | Los Angeles 90048 |
| Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science | Doctorate | 763 | Non-Profit | 1966 | Los Angeles 90059 |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Claremont Graduate University (Claremont Colleges) | Doctorate | 1,763 | Non-Profit | 1925 | Claremont |
| Claremont Lincoln University | Masters | 178 | Non-Profit | 2011 | Claremont |
| Claremont McKenna College (Claremont Colleges) | Masters | 1,384 | Non-Profit | 1946 | Claremont |
| Claremont School of Theology | Doctorate | 175 | Non-Profit | 1885 | Claremont |
| Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) | Masters | 1,366 | For-Profit | 1969 | Los Angeles 90015 |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Fuller Theological Seminary | Doctorate | 1,935 | Religious | 1947 | Pasadena |
| Harvey Mudd College (Claremont Colleges) | Bachelors | 949 | Non-Profit | 1955 | Claremont |
| Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion | Doctorate | 266 | Religious | 1954 | Los Angeles 90007 |
| Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences at City of Hope | Doctorate | 95 (2) | Non-Profit | 1994 | Duarte |
| Keck Graduate Institute | Doctorate | 602 | Non-Profit | 1997 | Claremont |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Life Pacific College | Masters | 504 | Religious | 1925 | San Dimas |
| Logos Evangelical Seminary | Doctorate | 202 (2) | Religious | 1989 | El Monte |
| Los Angeles Pacific University (5) | Masters | 1,829 | Religious | 2018 | San Dimas |
| Loyola Marymount University | Doctorate | 10,256 | Religious | 1865 | Los Angeles 90045 |
| Mount Saint Mary's University (6) | Doctorate | 2,308 | Religious | 1925 | Los Angeles 90049/ Brentwood |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| New York Film Academy Los Angeles | Masters | 1,245 | For-Profit | 1992 | Burbank |
| Occidental College | Masters | 1,854 | Non-Profit | 1888 | Los Angeles 90041 |
| Otis College of Art & Design | Masters | 1,284 | Non-Profit | 1917 | Los Angeles 90045 |
| Pacific Oaks College | Masters | 1,051 | Non-Profit | 1945 | Pasadena |
| Pardee RAND Graduate School | Doctorate | 131 | Non-Profit | 1970 | Santa Monica |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Pepperdine University | Doctorate | 9,545 | Religious | 1937 | Malibu |
| Pitzer College (Claremont Colleges) | Bachelors | 1,204 | Non-Profit | 1963 | Claremont |
| Pomona College (Claremont Colleges) | Bachelors | 1,664 | Non-Profit | 1887 | Claremont |
| Providence Christian College | Bachelors | 147 | Religious | 2005 | Pasadena |
| Saybrook University | Doctorate | 1,055 | Non-Profit | 1971 | Pasadena |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Scripps College (Claremont Colleges) (4) | Bachelors | 1,103 | Non-Profit | 1926 | Claremont |
| Southern California Institute of Architecture | Masters | 457 | Non-Profit | 1972 | Los Angeles 90013 |
| Southern California University of Health Sciences | Doctorate | 1,987 | Non-Profit | 1911 | Whittier |
| The Chicago School | Doctorate | 3,392 | Non-Profit | 2008 | Los Angeles 90017 |
| The Master's University & Seminary | Doctorate | 2,799 | Religious | 1927 | Santa Clarita |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| Touro College Los Angeles | Bachelors | 2,357 (7) | Non-Profit | 2005 (8) | West Hollywood |
| University of California, Los Angeles | Doctorate | 46,678 | Public | 1919 | Los Angeles 90095 |
| University of La Verne | Doctorate | 5,596 | Non-Profit | 1891 | La Verne |
| University of Southern California | Doctorate | 47,147 | Non-Profit | 1880 | Los Angeles 90089 |
| University of the West | Doctorate | 154 | Religious | 1990 | Rosemead |
| School | Highest Degree | Student Enrollment (1) | Type of Institution | Year Founded | Location |
| University of West Los Angeles | Doctorate | 256 | For-Profit | 1966 | Inglewood/ Chatsworth |
| West Coast University - Center for Graduate Studies | Doctorate | 527 | For-Profit | 2015 | Los Angeles 90004 |
| West Coast University - Los Angeles | Bachelors | 2,687 | For-Profit | 1909 | North Hollywood |
| Western University of Health Sciences | Doctorate | 3,625 | Non-Profit | 1975 | Pomona |
| Whittier College | Masters | 859 | Non-Profit | 1887 | Whittier |
| Woodbury University | Masters | 898 | Non-Profit | 1884 | Burbank |
* Listed institutions, as of 2025, are accredited by a regional accreditation association, such as the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC), or other similar body.
N/A Information not available
(1) Unless otherwise noted, enrollment numbers are for Fall 2023 from the National Center of Education Statistics or Data USA
(2) Enrollment number provided from institution website
(3) Formerly Columbia College Hollywood until 2023
(4) 2021 enrollment number from Data USA
(5) Online college spun-off as independent institution from Azusa Pacific University
(6) Primarily a women’s college
(7) Current enrollment number from CollegeSimply.com
(8) Year in which campus established in West Hollywood
The University of Antelope Valley, a for-profit accreditated college, opened in 2009 in Lancaster, ended up on accreditation probation in 2023 for failure to meet certain standards. The institution had been purchased, just the year before, by Genius Group Ltd., a Singapore technology company. In early 2024, the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education ordered the school to close by March 2024.
Marymount California University, once a Catholic two-year college, founded in 1932, that later expanded into a four-year college, closed its doors in 2022. The college found its enrollment dropping and could no longer sustain its programs. The campus in Rancho Palos Verdes was purchased, shortly after the closing, by UCLA to be operated as a satellite campus of that university.
The University of Southern California is a private research university of international distinction, and as such, the oldest in the Western United States. The university attracts students from all 50 states and 107 other countries.
California Institute of the Arts was founded in 1961 with the help of Walt and Roy Disney and Lulu May Von Hagen. It merged the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music (founded 1883) and Chouinard Art Institute (founded 1921).
Touro College Los Angeles is the only regionally-accredited Orthodox Jewish college in the West Coast.
The California Graduate Institute merged with The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in 2008. The California Graduate Institute was the first independent graduate school of psychology in the nation, founded in 1968.
Whittier College was founded in 1887 by members of the Society of Friends (Quakers).
Cleveland Chiropractic College Los Angeles, founded in 1911, closed in 2011.
UCLA is the only campus among the nation's top 10 research universities that was established in the 20th century.
Aerial View of UCLA campus, looking northwest, 1930s. Sunset Boulevard curves in upper part of image. Photo from UCLA Archive.
Click on image for larger image.
UCLA has the largest student enrollment of the University of California Campuses. Source: University of California.
In the 2022-2023 academic year, USC enrolled 17,264 foreign students - the fifth largest enrollment of foreign students among U.S. institutions of higher learning. Locally, UCLA followed in 13th place with 9,725 foreign students. Source: Open Doors Data.
