Fast facts about the Office of the President

Student support is a core function of UCOP, which coordinates systemwide programs and outreach.

  • UCOP coordinates systemwide outreach to K-12 schools to help students prepare for UC. Through its Achieve UC program, for example, university officials visited more than 100 California schools in fall 2016 to encourage students to apply to UC and to provide resources and help to applicants. It also oversees the administration of systemwide admissions and enrollment, partners with California Community Colleges and California State University to support transfer students and the transfer process, and administers more than $5 billion in financial aid. UC’s financial aid program is one of the strongest in the nation. One-third of UC tuition revenue is used to bolster state and financial aid programs, allowing UC to provide aid to three-fourths of California undergraduates, and covering all tuition and fees for more than half of California undergraduates.

UCOP oversees five public medical centers: UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC San Diego and UCSF.

  • UCOP oversees the five public medical centers that serve 1 million patients each year. The medical centers also provide significant unreimbursed care — $440 million systemwide last year. UC operates the largest health sciences training program and educates nearly half of all medical students in California. The UC Merced San Joaquin Valley PRIME initiative increases diversity in the medical profession and helps remedy the uneven distribution of physicians in California.

UCOP funds and guides systemwide academic, research and public service programs.

  • Academic: Education Abroad Program, Casa de California, UC Sacramento Center, UC Washington Center, and California Digital Library
  • Research: Institute of Transportation Studies; state-funded tobacco, breast cancer and HIV/AIDS research; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Security; and UC Observatories
  • Public Service: Diversity and opportunity outreach programs for K-12 students, Agricultural and Natural Resources, 4-H Youth Development, Natural Reserves System

UCOP also supports the well-being of UC’s workforce

  • UCOP administers retirement and benefits plans for 200,000 current and retired faculty members.

UCOP is the central hub for managing the University’s business operations and finances.

  • UCOP oversees the UC system’s annual $29 billion budget as well as $100 billion in investments for various funds, including endowment and pension.

The total UCOP budget is about 2 percent of the overall University of California budget.

  • One percent of UCOP’s budget is for Systemwide Academic and Public Services Programs, and 1 percent is for Central and Administrative Services.
  • Full-time UCOP employees represent just over 1 percent of full-time employees across the system. As of October 2015, UCOP had 1,674 employees.