California colleges and universities hold an array of PhD programs. There are two public university systems and many private universities. The majority of PhD students go through the University of California system or studies at a private university found through the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities. California State University system offers doctoral programs that are most often joined with University of California schools or a private institution. It is important to focus on a particular field for a PhD to help narrow down the many choices available from California colleges and universities.
University of California
The University of California (UC) has nine campuses throughout the state with graduate programs, including Los Angeles, Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara, Merced, Riverside, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Cruz and Berkeley. UC Berkeley, for example, offers more than one hundred graduate programs, the majority includes PhD studies. Doctoral programs are available in the Sciences, Literature, History and Music. Specific programs include Anthropology, Applied Mathematics, Biophysics, Chemistry, Endocrinology, Performance Arts and many others. According to a placement survey conducted by Berkeley, nearly 90 percent of Berkeley doctoral students between 1995 and 2003 found specialized employment, either in academia or private industry. UCLA also offers a diverse selection of PhD programs such as Aerospace Engineering, Art History, Sociology, and Political Science, along with many others. Each University of California campus offers PhD programs in many fields.
California State University
The California State University (CSU) system offers PhD programs throughout the state that are part of a Joint Doctoral Program (JDP) with the University of California system. For example, San Diego State University offers a JDP in chemistry with UC San Diego. The doctorate in clinical psychology at San Diego State University is also part of the JDP program, joined with UC San Diego. California State University does offer a doctoral program in Education at seven of its campuses, including Sacramento, San Francisco, Long Beach, and Fresno. CSU also offers a Pre-Doctoral program that prepares students for applying to one of UC or a private university program. Students work with a CSU mentor and are given opportunities to travel to conferences in their chosen field or participate in research internships.
Independent Colleges and Universities
The Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities has over 70 member institutions, all of which have their own concentrations of study. Not all offer PhD programs. Universities that do offer doctorates include the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Caltech offers PhD studies where a student chooses his subject area from all available programs, including Chemistry, Engineering, Biology, and Humanities and Social Sciences. Drexel University center for Graduate Studies offers only a doctoral program in Educational Leadership. Stanford University offers PhD programs in Medicine, Law, Education, Engineering and Humanities and Sciences.
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