<p>There are private colleges and universities in California that offer good educations but do not come here if you plan to attend a public college or university. The budget crises in California and the cuts to higher education have all but destroyed California’s public colleges and universities. The University of California (UC) campuses are a mere shell of what they used to be and the California State Universities (CSU) and California Community Colleges (CCC) are bareley functioning. Getting into basic classes, particularly in the sciences run from extremely difficult at the UCs to nearly impossible at the CSUs and CCCs. Hardley anyone can graduate in four years. The best you can hope for is five years at a UC, six years at a CSU and if you start at a CCC count on spending a minimum of three years, and as many as four or five, there doing your lower division courses before you are able to transfer to a UC or CSU.</p>