California Public Colleges Ranked by Largest Enrollment

Below is a ranking of the 148 public colleges in California with the largest enrollment of full and part time students. University of California Los Angeles leads the list with a population of 47,335 students.

Enrollment is a measure of the size of the student body. Larger schools are more likely to offer a wider range of programs and services while smaller schools may have a more intimate and personalized experience.

List of California Public Colleges Ranked by Largest Enrollment
College	Enrollment
University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles, California	47,335
University of California Berkeley Berkeley, California	45,882
University of California San Diego La Jolla, California	44,256
California State University Fullerton Fullerton, California	43,662
California State University Long Beach Long Beach, California	42,003
San Diego State University San Diego, California	41,137
University of California Davis Davis, California	40,065
California State University Northridge Northridge, California	38,313
San Jose State University San Jose, California	37,661
University of California Irvine Irvine, California	37,297
East Los Angeles College Monterey Park, California	33,677
California State University Sacramento Sacramento, California	31,943
Bakersfield College Bakersfield, California	30,746
American River College Sacramento, California	30,462
Mt San Antonio College Walnut, California	29,971
Fresno City College Fresno, California	28,071
California State Polytechnic University Pomona Pomona, California	27,636
Santa Ana College Santa Ana, California	27,248

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This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: August 2026

Data source: IPEDS 2025 survey for academic year 2024/2025 - National Center for Education Statistics.