#3 University of California–Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California. Founded in 1868, Berkeley is one of the ten research universities affiliated with the University of California system and is ranked as one of the world’s most prestigious universities and the top public university in the United States.

Established in 1868 as the University of California, resulting from the merger of the private College of California and the public Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Arts College in Oakland, Berkeley offers approximately 350 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. The Dwinelle Bill of March 5, 1868 (California Assembly Bill No. 583) stated that the “University shall have for its design, to provide instruction and thorough and complete education in all departments of science, literature and art, industrial and professional pursuits, and general education, and also special courses of instruction in preparation for the professions”. In the 1960’s, Berkeley was particularly noted for the Free Speech Movement as well as the Anti-Vietnam War Movement led by its students.

Berkeley is a founding member of the Association of American Universities and continues to have very high research activity with $789 million in research and development expenditures in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015. It also co-manages three United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as being home to many world-renowned research institutes and organizations including Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and Space Sciences Laboratory. Through its partner institution University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Berkeley also offers a joint medical program at the UCSF Medical Center, the top hospital in California, which is also part of the UC system.