Funding

Many central fellowships are awarded on a department level. Continuing grad students can apply for a number of central fellowships administered by the Graduate Division. There are also other sources of campus funding including travel grants, childcare grants, dissertation awards, and fellowships offered by other UCSB centers and units. 

See the GradPost Money section and the Graduate Division Extramural Funding section. The Graduate Division hosts regular Finding Funding workshops throughout the year, so check out the GradPost Events section to find out when the next one will be.

You can also email the Graduate Division Funding Peer Advisor (fundingpeer@graddiv.ucsb.edu) to set up an individual appointment.

Visit the Financial Aid website to learn more about cost of attendance, grants, and loans.

On Campus

To find your classroom, you can access the UCSB Campus Map, and type in the name of the building.

Visit the Transportation page.

You can find locations of gender-neutral bathrooms by visiting the UCSB Campus Map and checking the "All-Gender Bathrooms" box.

The Music Department has piano rooms, but they are technically only for students enrolled in the department or in piano classes. You would want to check with the Music Department’s operations manager, Patrick Chose, to see if they will allow access to non-Music students.

Many of the residence halls also have pianos.

Library hours vary depending on the time in the academic year. The first two floors of the library are open to students 24 hours most of the academic year. Check the current schedule here. Click here to find out more information about how graduate students may use the library.

The campus has an office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Their website has a lot of resources related to diversity on campus.

The MultiCultural Center hosts a number of events throughout the year including lectures, panel discussions, films and videos, musical, dance, and dramatic performances, and poetry readings that feature and celebrate diverse cultures.

The Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) sponsors diverse cultural programming through the African Diasporic, American Indian, Chican@/Latin@, Middle Eastern, and Asian American cultural resource centers. EOP provides cultural programs that facilitate interaction/collaboration between students of all cultural/ethnic backgrounds, allowing them to gain an understanding of and appreciation for similarities and differences in each other and themselves. EOP Cultural Services helps to create an environment that celebrates and promotes the history, contributions, intellectual heritage, education, and growth of students.

The UCSB Campus Profile lists the numbers for both undergraduate and graduate students by ethnicity, country of origin, age, and gender. Some departments also offer their own statistics, fact sheets, and job placement rates.

Almost all fees on campus are processed by BARC, the Billing Accounts Receivable Collections unit. You can log in to view and pay fees here.

Get a student ID card at the Access Information Desk on the main level of the UCen (map). During the summer, the Access Card/Information Desk is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Closed Wednesdays) During the academic year, they are open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Their phone number is 805-893-2464. The cost of the card is $30 and can also be used as a debit card. It is also used as your library card, bus pass, for Recreation Center access, and for student discounts. Check out the Transportation page for more information about how you can ride the city bus for free.

The 11, 15X, 24X, 27, and 28 routes will go from family housing to campus in about a 12-minute bus ride. For the Storke apartments, the closest bus stop is on El Colegio Rd. West Campus apartments can catch the bus on Storke Rd. outside of the complex. For more information on bus times and the closest bus stop from your location, map your route on Google Maps and click the transit icon. (Check out the Transportation page for more information about how you can ride the city bus for free.)

Student Life

Graduate students can join any student organizations, unless they are explicitly designated as undergraduate-only orgs. You can use your NetID to sign into Shoreline and browse a list of student orgs (including ones specifically for graduate students).

Here is a sample of some graduate student organizations:

Yes, they have many nationally recognized sports clubs. Check out the sports clubs webpage.

The Graduate Student Association hosts weekly bagel hours and monthly social hours. Many departments and centers host their own social events, such as Graduate Student Housing and the Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity. Also, be sure to check out the Life section of the GradPost for other fun events on campus and in the community.

Academics

You may register for classes through the GOLD website when you are within one of your registration pass times. For more information about the registration process, visit the Registrar’s website.

Yes, you can register for courses in other departments. Faculty often recommend that you take classes outside of your department/discipline to branch out from your research focus. You can also take undergraduate courses. However, you will need to speak with the course instructor if you want course credit - instructors often require graduate students to do additional work to receive course credit.

See the Graduate Division’s Interdisciplinary Emphasis and Certificate Programs webpage.

Each department sets its own course requirements. You can check the degree requirements in the General Catalog. Your department should also have a current Graduate Student Handbook that outlines degree requirements and other department policies.

You should consult your faculty advisor to select your courses. You can also check the degree requirements in the General Catalog.

The Graduate Division's Academic Services unit handles all graduate student petitions. You can also check with the staff graduate program assistant in your department for more about submitting petitions.

Each department has at least one faculty graduate advisor and at least one staff graduate advisor. You will also have a personal faculty advisor, who will be your thesis and/or dissertation committee chair. How advisors are assigned depends on the department.

Graduate Division also has a team of academic advisors. They can help with processing petitions, committee nominations, advancement to candidacy, filing theses and dissertations, conducting the degree checks, and navigating academic performance and progress. Advisors are available during business hours (M-F, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.) to take calls, emails, and walk-ins.

Career

Career Services has an online job portal called Handshake that lists current on-campus jobs as well as opportunities for internships and on-campus interviews with outside employers. You can also visit UCSB’s Human Resources page to learn about part-time staff positions.

The GradPost Career section also lists current calls for applications for a variety of on-campus positions.

TA positions are assigned by each academic department. The staff graduate program assistant in your department can provide you with information about how TA positions are assigned in your department. If you have subject expertise outside your department, contact the staff graduate program assistant in the relevant department to see if there are open opportunities.

RA positions are more often available from specific professors or researchers. The best way to learn about these opportunities is to talk to your faculty advisor and other faculty in research areas of interest about open opportunities for now and in the future. These positions can open up at any time in the year.

UAW Local 2865 is the Union representing over 12,000 Academic Student Employees (ASEs) – Readers, Tutors, TAs, and others – at the 9 teaching campuses of the University of California. 

Depending on your visa status, it may be possible to work off-campus after you have been enrolled as a full-time student at the university for 9 months. The Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) has extensive information on their website for currently enrolled students regarding working in the U.S. as a student. Head to their website here and read more about the rules based on your visa status. 

Wellness

Find out more about Gaucho Health Insurance here.

All students who are enrolled in the UC Santa Barbara Student Health Insurance (UC SHIP) have dental insurance covered by Delta Dental. Student Health has its own Dental Care Office. Book your appointments early, sometimes it takes 2-3 months to get a teeth cleaning appointment.

Graduate student fees include gym membership as long as you are enrolled. There is a separate fee for summer gym membership for graduate students who are not enrolled in courses. It is usually $60 and covers access for July, August, and September.

Access to all of the campus recreation center (Rec Cen) buildings and equipment, including the pools, is included in the fees you pay each quarter. You can start going to the campus Rec Cen during the first week of classes. You will need to show your Access card (student ID) to get in. You also get a discount on rec classes. Visit the Department of Recreation website for hours and other information about the facilities. You can find information about aquatics here.

For fitness and other recreational classes (pottery, guitar, wine tasting, etc.) check out the Rec Cen class list and the Wellness & Fitness Programs. Check out GauchosPlay for info about sports teams, intramural sports, and adventure programs. Many student orgs also offer recreational activities like dance and outdoor sports. You can also sign up to participate in Exercise & Sports Studies courses (e.g., intro to basketball, soccer, sailing, bowling) for 0.5 units, or join group fitness classes for a discounted price.

Graduate school is hectic, busy, and can be overwhelming. It is helpful to use some kind of organizational tool (e.g., a calendar program that you can access on multiple devices and use to record classes, events, work, homework, and any other relevant to-dos with reminders). Put your social events and breaks into your calendar; otherwise you may forget about them or think that they are not as important as everything else.

Find a social group - whether that is a student organization, sports team, or your cohort in your department. Being part of a community really helps you deal with the stresses of graduate studies.

Let your friends and family know that graduate school is a full-time job and that you will be dedicating much of your time to studying, researching, and learning new things.

It can also be helpful to access mental health services on a short or longer term basis to support your well-being. Graduate students have access to Counseling and Psychological Services for short-term counseling and to the Hosford Clinic for longer-term therapy. These services are free (CAPS) or low-cost (Hosford) and are conveniently located on campus. Many therapists throughout Santa Barbara also accept UCSB's Student Health Insurance.

Impostor syndrome is recognized as “the feeling that you are not really a successful, competent, and smart student, that you are only imposing as such.” Impostor syndrome is a recurring character in the lives of many graduate students or doctoral students.  Luckily, there are quite available sites that discuss this feeling and whether you are a Ph.D student or graduate student, we encourage you to learn how to talk about and cope with this common issue. 

The Women, Gender, and Sexual Equity Center in the Student Resource Building offers free condoms. Health and Wellness also provides free condoms through its Condom Distribution Program. The Program provides condom dispensers with free condoms in residence halls, at student health, and in other locations on campus. 

See our Parent Resources section on this page.

Around Town

For the best chance of avoiding undergraduates, don’t go out after 10 p.m. on Thursdays and don’t go to Isla Vista.

Here are some good grad options in Goleta:

And in downtown Santa Barbara:

Also check out the Funk Zone area downtown – it’s an industrial neighborhood that houses most of the wine tasting rooms in town (many are open late on the weekends) as well as several bars and some upscale restaurants.

Visit the Life Section of The GradPost for other fun things to do on- and off-campus.

Check out the Visiting Santa Barbara page for more information on getting around, things to do, and other resources.