University of California-Santa Barbara
Public four-year university in Santa Barbara, CA that costs an average of $16,807 a year after financial aid, admits 33% of applicants and graduates 84% of full-time students.
Net price / year
$16,807
Acceptance rate
33%
Graduation rate
84%
Earnings after 10 yrs
$82,568
PublicMidsize suburb23,113 undergraduates
Cost of University of California-Santa Barbara
| Total cost of attendance (per year) | $44,833 |
|---|---|
| Tuition and fees, in-state | $16,989 |
| Tuition and fees, out-of-state | $54,591 |
| Housing and food (on campus) | $21,975 |
| Books and supplies | $1,484 |
| Average net price after aid | $16,807 |
Net price by family income
| Family income | Average net price / year |
|---|---|
| $0–30,000 | $9,523 |
| $30,001–48,000 | $10,281 |
| $48,001–75,000 | $14,181 |
| $75,001–110,000 | $18,954 |
| $110,001+ | $36,658 |
Net price is what students actually pay after grants and scholarships (in-state students). Get your own estimate with University of California-Santa Barbara's net price calculator ↗.
Admissions
| Acceptance rate | 33% |
|---|---|
| Test scores | Neither required nor recommended |
Graduation, earnings and debt
| Graduation rate | 84% |
|---|---|
| First-year retention | 93% |
| Median earnings 6 years after enrolling | $61,127 |
| Median earnings 10 years after enrolling | $82,568 |
| Rank in California (earnings) | 35th of 129 similar colleges |
| Median debt of graduates | $11,776 |
| Typical monthly loan payment | $134 (10-year plan) |
| Students with Pell grants | 32% |
| Students with federal loans | 18% |
Majors and programs at University of California-Santa Barbara
Earnings one year after graduation and median debt, by program. Click a program for details and comparisons.
Bachelor's degree programs (54)
| Program | Graduates (2 yrs) | Earnings after 1 yr | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Science | 336 | $121,223 | $10,000 |
| Computer Engineering | 139 | $101,093 | $10,000 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | 116 | $87,938 | $12,436 |
| Chemical Engineering | 85 | $82,313 | $13,833 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 169 | $80,791 | $12,583 |
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods | 85 | $78,375 | — |
| Economics | 1,398 | $70,608 | $11,528 |
| Statistics | 730 | $67,908 | $13,800 |
| Physics | 321 | $64,520 | $12,804 |
| Applied Mathematics | 362 | $62,507 | $11,567 |
| Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology | 153 | $61,491 | $5,765 |
| Chemistry | 189 | $56,258 | $14,499 |
| Mathematics | 232 | $54,285 | $13,000 |
| Communication and Media Studies | 1,269 | $51,428 | $11,108 |
| Microbiological Sciences and Immunology | 80 | $51,399 | $14,607 |
| Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences | 106 | $48,186 | — |
| Religion/Religious Studies | 44 | $46,342 | — |
| International/Globalization Studies | 280 | $46,238 | $12,399 |
| Geography and Cartography | 141 | $45,501 | $11,000 |
| Political Science and Government | 641 | $43,555 | $11,927 |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research | 690 | $42,711 | $11,500 |
| Pharmacology and Toxicology | 119 | $42,364 | $11,000 |
| Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences | 102 | $41,816 | $16,500 |
| Sociology | 1,342 | $40,249 | $10,000 |
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies | 155 | $39,589 | $11,010 |
| Research and Experimental Psychology | 1,316 | $39,116 | $10,373 |
| Biology | 772 | $38,556 | $11,516 |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology | 168 | $38,535 | $12,000 |
| Philosophy | 201 | $38,395 | $11,349 |
| Anthropology | 238 | $37,165 | $10,388 |
| Area Studies | 43 | $35,749 | — |
| History | 330 | $35,364 | $11,833 |
| English Language and Literature | 311 | $35,102 | $11,601 |
| Film/Video and Photographic Arts | 386 | $35,065 | $11,125 |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | 116 | $34,041 | $12,291 |
| Fine and Studio Arts | 237 | $33,711 | $10,239 |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services | 227 | $31,482 | $10,166 |
| Zoology/Animal Biology | 54 | $30,872 | $11,000 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft | 64 | $30,366 | $12,734 |
| Business/Managerial Economics | 2 | — | — |
| Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | 12 | — | — |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services | — | — | — |
| Dance | 43 | — | — |
| Data Science | — | — | — |
| East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | 20 | — | — |
| Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | 18 | — | — |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities | 1 | — | — |
| Medieval and Renaissance Studies | 1 | — | — |
| Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other | 2 | — | — |
| Music | 57 | — | $9,816 |
| Non-Professional Legal Studies | 1 | — | — |
| Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences | 14 | — | — |
| Psychology | — | — | — |
| Slavic, Baltic and Albanian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | 1 | — | — |
Master's degree programs (45)
| Program | Graduates (2 yrs) | Earnings after 1 yr | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods | 95 | $93,897 | — |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research | 151 | $68,643 | $31,000 |
| Education | 187 | $66,077 | — |
| Anthropology | 7 | — | — |
| Applied Mathematics | 1 | — | — |
| Area Studies | 4 | — | — |
| Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology | 4 | — | — |
| Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences | 7 | — | — |
| Chemical Engineering | 4 | — | — |
| Chemistry | 16 | — | — |
| Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | 1 | — | — |
| Communication and Media Studies | 5 | — | — |
| Computer Science | 103 | — | — |
| Data Science | 59 | — | $42,837 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft | 3 | — | — |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology | 12 | — | — |
| Economics | 24 | — | — |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | 74 | — | — |
| English Language and Literature | 10 | — | — |
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies | 7 | — | — |
| Film/Video and Photographic Arts | 4 | — | — |
| Fine and Studio Arts | 16 | — | — |
| Geography and Cartography | 10 | — | — |
| Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences | 5 | — | — |
| Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | — | — | — |
| History | 4 | — | — |
| International/Globalization Studies | 7 | — | — |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services | 3 | — | — |
| Materials Sciences | 22 | — | — |
| Mathematics | 14 | — | — |
| Mechanical Engineering | 26 | — | — |
| Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other | — | — | — |
| Music | 17 | — | — |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences | 1 | — | — |
| Philosophy | 4 | — | — |
| Physics | 72 | — | — |
| Political Science and Government | 14 | — | — |
| Psychology | — | — | — |
| Psychology, Other | 18 | — | — |
| Radio, Television, and Digital Communication | 16 | — | — |
| Religion/Religious Studies | 10 | — | — |
| Research and Experimental Psychology | 8 | — | — |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | 1 | — | — |
| Sociology | 10 | — | — |
| Statistics | 36 | — | — |
Doctoral degree programs (45)
| Program | Graduates (2 yrs) | Earnings after 1 yr | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemistry | 49 | $114,583 | — |
| Education | 20 | $81,385 | — |
| Anthropology | 7 | — | — |
| Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology | 7 | — | — |
| Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences | 23 | — | — |
| Chemical Engineering | 32 | — | — |
| Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | 6 | — | — |
| Communication and Media Studies | 4 | — | — |
| Computer Science | 43 | — | — |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft | 7 | — | — |
| East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | 5 | — | — |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology | 33 | — | — |
| Economics | 25 | — | — |
| Educational Administration and Supervision | — | — | — |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | 55 | — | — |
| English Language and Literature | 9 | — | — |
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies | 7 | — | — |
| Film/Video and Photographic Arts | 6 | — | — |
| Fine and Studio Arts | 10 | — | — |
| Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other | 9 | — | — |
| Geography and Cartography | 23 | — | — |
| Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences | 15 | — | — |
| Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | — | — | — |
| History | 17 | — | — |
| International/Globalization Studies | 9 | — | — |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services | 21 | — | — |
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods | 1 | — | — |
| Materials Sciences | 56 | — | — |
| Mathematics | 8 | — | — |
| Mechanical Engineering | 23 | — | — |
| Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other | — | — | — |
| Music | 14 | — | — |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research | 20 | — | — |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences | 3 | — | — |
| Philosophy | 7 | — | — |
| Physics | 64 | — | — |
| Political Science and Government | 12 | — | — |
| Psychology | — | — | — |
| Psychology, Other | 20 | — | — |
| Radio, Television, and Digital Communication | 16 | — | — |
| Religion/Religious Studies | 21 | — | — |
| Research and Experimental Psychology | 21 | — | — |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | — | — | — |
| Sociology | 13 | — | — |
| Statistics | 18 | — | — |
Graduate certificate programs (4)
| Program | Graduates (2 yrs) | Earnings after 1 yr | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education | 146 | $66,305 | $13,469 |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities | — | — | — |
| Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other | 1 | — | — |
| Psychology, Other | 8 | — | — |
Similar colleges in California
| College | City | Net price / yr | Acceptance | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California-Riverside | Riverside | $12,672 | 76% | $72,974 |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | San Luis Obispo | $18,832 | 31% | $96,304 |
| California State University-Fresno | Fresno | $5,418 | 95% | $62,756 |
| California State Polytechnic University-Pomona | Pomona | $9,404 | 75% | $77,464 |
| California State University-Los Angeles | Los Angeles | $2,385 | 91% | $62,555 |
| San Jose State University | San Jose | $14,241 | 85% | $83,493 |
| California State University-Sacramento | Sacramento | $11,186 | 94% | $69,014 |
| San Francisco State University | San Francisco | $9,803 | 96% | $73,299 |
About University of California-Santa Barbara
| Type | Public four-year university |
|---|---|
| Location | Santa Barbara, CA |
| Setting | Midsize suburb |
| Undergraduates | 23,113 |
| Student-to-faculty ratio | 17 to 1 |
| Accreditor | Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission |
| Website | ucsb.edu ↗ |
Frequently asked questions
What is University of California-Santa Barbara's acceptance rate?
University of California-Santa Barbara admits 33% of applicants, making it selective.
How much does University of California-Santa Barbara cost per year?
The full cost of attendance is $44,833 a year (tuition and fees: $16,989 in-state, $54,591 out-of-state). After grants and scholarships the average student pays $16,807 a year, and students from families earning under $30,000 pay about $9,523.
How much do University of California-Santa Barbara graduates earn?
Former students earn a median of $82,568 a year, 10 years after first enrolling — 35th of 129 similar colleges in California. The best-paid bachelor's program is computer science ($121,223 a year after graduation).
What is University of California-Santa Barbara's graduation rate?
84% of full-time students graduate within six years, and 93% of first-year students return for a second year.