Top 20 largest universities by students · California
World, then every country and state with data
Updated · students (students)
Back up to: ↑ 🇺🇸 United States↑ World
Why these 20
Student numbers as recorded in Wikidata (with the source each editor cited there). Open and affiliating universities count every enrolled student, so they top the world list; drill into a country or state for campuses you may visit.
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1
University of Southern California
private university in Los Angeles, California, United States
48,500 · 🇺🇸 United States
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2
U
University of the People
American private institution of higher education in Pasadena, California
43,722 · 🇺🇸 United States
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3
University of California, San Diego
public university in La Jolla, California, United States
42,875 · 🇺🇸 United States
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4
California State University, Fullerton
public university in Fullerton, California, United States, part of the California State University system
42,051 · 🇺🇸 United States
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5
California State University, Long Beach
public university in Long Beach, California, United States
40,069 · 🇺🇸 United States
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6
University of California, Davis
public university in the Davis, California area; part of the University of California system
39,074 · 🇺🇸 United States
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7
California State University, Northridge
public university in Northridge, Los Angeles, California, United States
32,214 · 🇺🇸 United States
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8
California State University, Sacramento
public university in Sacramento, California, United States
31,451 · 🇺🇸 United States
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9
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
public university in Pomona, California, United States
30,014 · 🇺🇸 United States
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10
San Francisco State University
university in San Francisco, California, United States
27,349 · 🇺🇸 United States
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11
California State University, Los Angeles
public university in Los Angeles, California, United States
26,745 · 🇺🇸 United States
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12
California State University, Fresno
public university in Fresno, California, United States
26,438 · 🇺🇸 United States
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13
University of California, Santa Barbara
public university near Goleta, California, United States and part of the University of California system
26,314 · 🇺🇸 United States
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14
California Polytechnic State University
public university in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States
22,440 · 🇺🇸 United States
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16
California State University, San Bernardino
public university in San Bernardino, California, United States
19,689 · 🇺🇸 United States
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17
University of California, Santa Cruz
public University of California campus in Santa Cruz
19,494 · 🇺🇸 United States
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18
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19
Stanford University
private research university in Stanford, California, USA
17,246 · 🇺🇸 United States
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20
California State University, Chico
university in California, United States
16,746 · 🇺🇸 United States
How it is measured
Wikidata: universities (public, private) with a student count of 10,000 or more; country and state from the location; the world list is the top 20 of the countries below.
References
- Wikidata query: universities by students, Wikidata (CC0). Checked 2026-10-19 20:21 UTC.
California: more top 20s here
Photo: Mathematics lecture at the Helsinki University of Technology by Tungsten, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. Pictures in rows: Wikimedia Commons, GitHub and the linked pages.