UC Irvine Extension

In the U.S. News & World Report annual college survey, UC Irvine is ranked among the top 50 universities nationally, and ranks tenth among all public universities - quite an impressive feat for our young campus.

As the continuing education arm of the prestigious university, UC Irvine Extension is dedicated to providing a transforming learning experience for our students. We maintain over 35,000 enrollments each year and offer hundreds of exciting courses and programs to local, regional and global constituencies. Our flagship programs are our Professional Certificates which are offered in multiple formats for convenience, on campus and online. Most of our students are working adults with college degrees, seeking career advancement and personal enrichment.

As an integral part of UC Irvine, Extension seeks to support UCI’s reputation for innovation. Our Distance Learning Center provides campus and other strategically selected organizations with distance learning services, including the development and delivery of courses using online technology. As with everything we do, the Distance Learning Center is dedicated to the highest quality instruction, employing professional levels of instructional design, the appropriate use of technology, and the most qualified and best-trained instructors.

University Extension is also proud to announce UC Irvine’s acceptance in the OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCW). UC Irvine is the first University of California campus, as well as the only West Coast University, to become a member of the OCW. UC Irvine’s membership in the OCW Consortium is consistent with its public and land-grant missions and its desire to play a significant role in contributing to the social welfare of the state, the nation and the world. Open Educational Resources (OER) showcase the University’s high quality education and makes courses and course materials free for everyone in the world. UC Irvine's OCW is a large-scale, Web-based resource that houses educational assets that are discoverable, searchable, modifiable, and, best of all, free and easily available. Through the OCW Movement, UC Irvine provides university-quality courses and learning assets to populations of self learners that are underserved and in many cases, unable to participate in formal education at a university.  This site also offers access to UC Irvine Extension’s online continuing education offerings. For more information about UC Irvine's OCW initiative, visit ocw.uci.edu.

UC Irvine Extension also provides a gateway for our students to reach other UC Extensions and campus amenities such as the UCI Alumni Association, the University Club, and the Chancellor’s Club.

From a wide selection of academic programs to numerous campus activities, UC Irvine Extension will continue providing a university-level learning experience to all of our students.