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 Riverside Riverside, California	26,384
University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California	26,133
Long Beach City College Long Beach, California	24,985
Pasadena City College Pasadena, California	24,597
California State University Fresno Fresno, California	24,427
Santa Monica College Santa Monica, California	23,453
California State University Los Angeles Los Angeles, California	23,163
California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, California	23,069
San Francisco State University San Francisco, California	22,563
Chaffey College Rancho Cucamonga, California	22,460
Cerritos College Norwalk, California	21,859
Riverside City College Riverside, California	21,730
El Camino Community College District Torrance, California	21,664
Southwestern College Chula Vista, California	20,986
San Joaquin Delta College Stockton, California	20,969
Saddleback College Mission Viejo, California	20,764
University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California	19,938
Sacramento City College Sacramento, California	19,920

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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.