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UCs -- 4 year universities, extremely selective, research-intensive, grant undergraduate and graduate degrees (including PhDs and medical/law/etc. degrees)
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CSUs -- 4 year universities, noticeably less selective, much less research-intensive, grant mostly undergraduate degrees and some master's degrees
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Community colleges -- 2 year colleges, not at all selective, no/little research, students transfer to UCs and CSUs after two years