University of California, San Diego
PRE-3: Institutional Boundary

Founded in 1960, the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) is located in La Jolla, a coastal community adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the City of San Diego. The campus community holds great respect for the land and the original people of the area where our campus is located. The university was built on the unceded territory of the Kumeyaay Nation. 

The 1,158-acre campus is composed of three distinct, but contiguous, geographical entities: the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the western area of the campus (“West Campus”), and the eastern area of the campus (“East Campus”). West Campus and East Campus are bisected by Interstate 5. These geographical entities are comprised of academic and research facilities, athletics and support facilities, student housing, and open space. In addition to academic and research facilities, The Scripps Institution of Oceanography also includes the Birch Aquarium. UC San Diego is also home to the Preuss School, a unique charter middle and high school for low-income scholars. Both the Birch Aquarium and the Preuss School are included within the institutional boundary of this report. 

Undergraduates at UC San Diego enjoy the benefits of a large university combined with the advantages of a small institution through its unique college system. The colleges are intended to be modest-sized, cross-disciplinary units (a student may have any major in any college), each with a distinctive pattern of primarily lower division general education requirements. Each 

college has a distinct location on campus that includes both academic and residential space. There are currently eight undergraduate colleges: Revelle, Muir, Marshall, Roosevelt, Warren, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth. At the time of compiling this report, Eighth College has welcomed its first class of students but not yet fully opened its residential buildings and facilities.  

In 2024, UC San Diego started to embark on an important effort to refresh its 10-Year Strategic Plan, remaining focused on the priorities that will support its continued growth and transformation as a public university. Aligning sustainability and climate goals with the upcoming Strategic Plan refresh will be a priority for long-term sustainability planning at UC San Diego. 

The institutional boundaries for UC San Diego's greenhouse gas reporting (OP-2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions) includes the Hillcrest Medical Center, while the institutional boundaries for building operations and maintenance, energy, waste, and water only include the La Jolla campus per The Climate Registry reporting procedures (OP-4 Building Operations and Maintenance, OP-5 Building Energy Efficiency, OP-18 Waste Minimization, and OP-21 Water Use). The Hillcrest Medical Center is located 13 miles from the La Jolla campus.  

The Hillcrest Medical Center is also included within the physical boundaries and employee FTE number for commute modal split (OP-16 Commute Modal Split) because the data for Hillcrest cannot be separated from the main campus. Commute modal split data was compiled using the cordon count process.  

Additionally, slight adjustments to the institutional boundary were made according to housing area for OP-5 Building Energy Efficiency, OP-18 Waste Minimization, and OP-21 Water Use.  

Clarification pertaining to gross square footage and weighted campus user is noted in PRE-4 Operational Characteristics and PRE-5 Academics and Demographics.