The top city with the largest student population in California is Los Angeles, CA with 183,525 students enrolled across 55 colleges. Los Angeles is the largest city in terms of both total student population and number of schools in California.The largest college in Los Angeles is University of California-Los Angeles with 47,335 students enrolled.
Other top cities in California include
- San Diego, CA (34 colleges, 143,421 students). The top college in San Diego is San Diego State University with 41,137 students.
- Sacramento, CA (21 colleges, 106,814 students). The leading institution in Sacramento is California State University-Sacramento with 31,943 students.
- Pasadena, CA (15 colleges, 76,921 students). The biggest institution in Pasadena is University of the People with 41,961 students.
- Long Beach, CA (5 colleges, 69,398 students). The leading institution in Long Beach is California State University-Long Beach with 42,003 students.
- San Francisco, CA (17 colleges, 68,602 students). The leading institution in San Francisco is San Francisco State University with 22,563 students.
- Fresno, CA (12 colleges, 67,924 students). The biggest institution in Fresno is Fresno City College with 28,071 students.
- Riverside, CA (12 colleges, 65,259 students). The most prominent college in Riverside is University of California-Riverside with 26,384 students.
- Fullerton, CA (5 colleges, 65,162 students). The top college in Fullerton is California State University-Fullerton with 43,662 students.
- Irvine, CA (6 colleges, 64,587 students). The top college in Irvine is University of California-Irvine with 37,297 students.
California Cities with Largest College Student Population
The following table lists cities with the largest student populations in California, including the total number of schools, total enrollment, undergraduate and graduate students
, along with the distribution of men and women students across institutions. Click on any city to explore detailed information about colleges in that area. Each page also includes information about community colleges and trade schoools in the metropolitan region and nearby cities.