The research version can be purchased from OIT's Software Catalog and installed on university-owned equipment.
Students can download ArcGIS free of charge for their personal laptops.
Log in with your student AD account, ucinetID@ad.uci.edu
Click on ArcGIS under the "AntSoft Software Catalog" heading.
Scroll down and you'll see a request form on the left-side column. For students, it'll show up as $0.00 cost.
Submit the form after you enter your name.
For ArcGIS questions, please contact http://oit.uci.edu, 949-824-42222. (This website is provided by Engineering, not OIT).
In order to use ArcGIS in School and OIT computer labs, students need to request an ArcGIS Online Account at OIT.