University of California - Santa Barbara

University of California, Santa Barbara

Former names	Anna Blake School (1891–1909) Santa Barbara State Normal School (1909–1921) Santa Barbara State College (1921–1944) Santa Barbara College of the University of California (1944–1958)
Motto	Fiat lux
Motto in English	Let there be light
Type	Public university Research university Space-grant university
Established	1891 (1891) (as the Anna Blake School 1944 (1944) Joined the UC
Parent institution	University of California
Academic affiliations	UC System APLU AAU URA APRU
Endowment	$273.7 million (2016)
Chancellor	Henry T. Yang
Academic staff	1,163 (Fall 2016)
Students	24,346 (Fall 2016)
Undergraduates	21,574 (Fall 2016)
Postgraduates	2,772 (Fall 2016)
Location	Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Campus	Suburban 1,055 acres (427 ha)
Colors	Blue and Gaucho gold
Nickname	Gauchos
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division I – Big West
Website	www.ucsb.edu

The University of California, Santa Barbara (commonly referred to as UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public research university and one of the 10 campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a 1,022-acre (414 ha) site near Isla Vista, California, United States, 8 miles (13 km) from Santa Barbara and 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Los Angeles. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers' college, UCSB joined the University of California system in 1944 and is the third-oldest general-education campus in the system.

UCSB is one of America's Public Ivy universities, which recognizes top public research universities in the United States. The university is a comprehensive doctoral university and is organized into five colleges and schools offering 87 undergraduate degrees and 55 graduate degrees. UCSB was ranked 37th among "National Universities", 8th among U.S. public universities and 24th among Best Global Universities by U.S. News & World Report 's 2016 rankings. The university was also ranked 48th worldwide for 2016-17 by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and 42nd worldwide by the Academic Ranking of World Universities in 2016.

UC Santa Barbara is a "very high activity" research university with twelve national research centers, including the renowned Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics. Current UCSB faculty includes six Nobel Prize laureates, one Fields Medalist, 39 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 27 members of the National Academy of Engineering, and 34 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. UCSB was the No. 3 host on the ARPAnet and was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1995.