Palm-framed vistas of the blue Pacific and the golden Santa Ynez Mountains. The scent of eucalyptus mixed with the saltwater breeze. Breathtaking natural beauty combined with enormous intellectual vitality. This is the University of California, Santa Barbara, and there is no other campus quite like it.
Here on the edge of the Pacific, in a setting removed from urban pressures and distractions but vibrant with cultural and academic activity, many of the country’s most promising students join a community of scholars whose accomplishments are internationally recognized and whose skills as teachers are evident each day in classrooms and laboratories.
In the humanities and the arts as well as in engineering and the sciences, UC Santa Barbara introduces students to novel ways of thinking, learning, and conducting research.
Academic Quality
Pioneering research is a critical component of the highest quality education. UCSB’s 1,050-member faculty includes five Nobel Prize winners and scores of elected members of national and international academies and societies as well as dozens of winners of Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships. The campus is one of only 61 research-intensive institutions elected to membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities.
UCSB philosopher Aaron Zimmerman teaches an introductory ethics course in Embarcadero Hall in Isla Vista, the adjacent community that is home to a majority of UCSB’s students.
Within this community of scholars, the life of the mind, the pursuit of knowledge, and the experience of growth, both personal and intellectual, are the hallmarks of daily life.
UCSB enrolls 21,685 students, about 3,000 of them at the graduate level. Competition for admission is keen. In recent years the campus has enrolled the most academically competitive and ethnically diverse classes in its history.
More than 200 majors, degrees, and credentials are offered through UCSB’s five schools and the Graduate Division. The College of Letters and Science alone offers 80 majors. The College of Creative Studies offers talented students an alternative approach for pursuing advanced, independent work in the arts, mathematics, or the sciences. The College of Engineering offers degree programs in seven disciplines.
The vast majority of students live within walking distance of their classes. Seven miles of bikeways link this close-knit academic community, giving students easy access to a rich array of social, cultural, academic, and athletic events.
Another distinguishing characteristic of the campus is its proximity to two very different communities. Isla Vista, the adjacent community that is home away from home to a majority of UCSB’s students, is a place for social and civic growth, where students serve on local boards and county committees. Nearby Santa Barbara — an energetic, mid-sized city with a deep concern for history, the arts, and the environment — is highly regarded for its cultural and recreational resources.
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