UC Santa Barbara, also know as "UCSB" or "University of California, Santa Barbara", is a public research university located in Santa Barbara County, CA. It is one of the 10 campuses in the University of California system, and recognized as a Public Ivy institution in America. Although known as a party school, it is a school with highly regarded academics and a "Work Hard, Play Hard" attitude. It is ranked 40th in the nation by U.S News & World Report and 10th among public institutions in the nation.

UC Santa Barbara is divided into three schools: College of Letters & Sciences, College of Engineering, and College of Creative Studies and has two graduate professional schools.The school offers 79 majors to undergraduate students with Social Sciences, Psychology, Communication, and Biology to be the most popular majors. Faculty includes 6 Nobel Laureates awarded for Physics, Economics, and Chemistry.

The most notable feature of UCSB's campus is its surroundings which is located in a peninsula. It is one of the few universities to have its own beach and lagoon. Consequently, the marine biology program is extremely renowned in the nation. There is an environmentally conscientious vibe with the school ranked No.1 Greenest Public University by Princeton Review and one of only two colleges to receive Gold-Level Bike Friendly Campuses by the League of American Bicyclist.

Although UCSB is located in Santa Barbara County, Isla Vista (IV) is regarded as its college town. Many UCSB and SBCC (Santa Barbara Community College) students rent apartments and eat outside of campus in IV. It is also the location of DP or Del Playa which is known as the party street.

History

UC Santa Barbara initially started as the Anna Blake School in 1866 as an independent teacher's college. A liberal arts program was implemented into the school and was renamed to Santa Barbara State College. Eventually the Regents of University of California took over the college with the support of the Governor in hopes of establishing a research university. It wasn't until 1958 when the school was recognized as University of California, Santa Barbara.

Before the UCSB campus became UCSB, it was Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara during World War 2 until 1946.