"The distinctive mission of the University is to serve society as a center of higher learning, providing long-term societal benefits through transmitting advanced knowledge, discovering new knowledge, and functioning as an active working repository of organized knowledge. That obligation, more specifically, includes undergraduate education, graduate and professional education, research, and other kinds of public service, which are shaped and bounded by the central pervasive mission of discovering and advancing knowledge." (University of California Academic Plan, 1974-1978).
The California Master Plan for Higher Education has been the foundation for public higher education in the state of California since its creation in 1960. Because of our State’s recognition of the importance of affordable quality higher education for all the residents of California, the Master Plan has enabled California to grow to become a world economic power, beacon of social justice, and an example to other institutions and governments of the importance of higher learning. The public servants of the University of California seek to promote the three main ideals of the University of California which are to Teach, Perform Research, and Provide Public Service.