UCR was originally established in 1907 as the Citrus Experiment Station (which introduced the navel orange to the United States) and significant agricultural research still takes place there. Today, UCR is oriented towards undergraduates, with 78 majors and 45 minors, but also offers graduate degrees. It is the only UC campus to offer an undergraduate degree in creative writing and one of only two UC campuses to offer an undergraduate degree in Business Administration. UCR features a unique biomedical sciences program which allows students to earn both B.Sc. and M.D. degrees in seven years instead of eight.

UCR is also a primary partner in the Riverside Regional Technology Park, which also includes the City of Riverside, the County of Riverside, and various private industry members. The park is intended to assist entrepreneurs in developing new products and help move UCR discoveries into the marketplace.

UCR is host to the world's largest academic collection of Star Trek material. Some of this material is apparently marked for "Library Use Only" since it is on display part of the J. Lloyd Eaton Collection  on the fourth floor of the UCR Rivera Library.