Chartered in 1868, the University of California (UC) System eventually grew to nine campuses. For much of the twentieth century the UC System, along with the twentythree-campus California State University provided affordable, quality undergraduate and graduate education for California residents. However, in the early 1990s, the UC System faced budget cuts, temporarily leading to overcrowding and significantly higher costs for students.

The UC System, which includes five medical schools and teaching hospitals as well as three law schools, has also been a cornerstone for top-notch research. Since 1939, the UC faculty has won thirty-two Nobel Prizes.

The UC System has often been at the forefront of political and social change. In the mid- to late-1960s, the Free Speech movement, a demonstration against the Vietnam War and racism, occurred on the Berkeley campus. In the 1970s, Allan Bakke, an engineer denied admission to the medical school at the Davis campus, sued the university claiming he had been rejected only because he was white. In a decision that established parameters for affirmative-action programs, the Supreme Court ordered Bakke admitted, ruling that schools cannot use quotas to achieve racial diversity but may consider race in the admissions process in order to reach this end. In July 1995, the UC system’s governing board voted to end the admissions policy of preferences based on race and gender, while allowing campuses to give preference to applicants with disadvantaged backgrounds. The action effectively dismantled existing affirmative-action policies for campus admissions, but faced deep protests.