California State University-Channel Islands

This school is young -- it was established in 2002 -- but serious about higher education. CSUCI is devoted to four pillars outlined in its mission statement: international, integrative, multicultural, and community engagement. With nearly 7,000 undergrads -- a majority of them women -- CSUCI offers over two dozen majors, including Chicana/o studies and mechatronics engineering. The campus is gorgeous, located near Malibu and among lemon groves, and every day at 11:55 a.m. people can hear the alma mater played from the bell tower carillon. Students can participate in more than 80 organizations, including a surf club, a branch of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, a Pokemon club and a Mariachi club. CSUCI does not have standard intercollegiate athletics options, but students can join club sports teams, like the lacrosse and hockey clubs. Commencement ceremonies are packed with tradition, and feature the sounding of a conch shell, a multilingual greeting, and passage through an arch, which symbolizes newly-degreed graduates entering a new stage of their lives.