University of California, Irvine is a public research university located in Irvine, California and one of the 10 general campuses in the University of California (UC) system. UCI's Orange County campus is the fifth-largest in the UC system. UC Irvine is considered a Public Ivy and became a member of the Association of American Universities in 1996, and is the youngest university to hold membership. It also administers the UC Irvine Medical Center, a large teaching hospital; the UC Irvine Health Sciences system in the City of Orange; the University of California, Irvine, Arboretum; and a portion of the University of California Natural Reserve System.

California State University, Long Beach (also known as Cal State Long Beach, Long Beach State, CSULB, LBSU, or The Beach) is the second largest campus of the 23 school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities in the state of California by enrollment, its student body numbering 36,279 for the Fall 2012 semester.