Santa Barbara is known for its ocean views, red tile roofs, terrazzo walks, and sheltering trees, all of which reflect its Spanish heritage. Many arts and crafts shows and ethnic festivals are held during the year, along with concerts, theater, and dance performances.  Annual events include Old Spanish Days FiestaEarth Day FestivalSummer Solstice Festival, and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Several major institutions of higher learning are located in the Santa Barbara area besides UCSB, including Westmont CollegeAntioch UniversitySanta Barbara City CollegeThe Fielding Institute, and Pacifica Graduate Institute. One noted professional school is in nearby Montecito: the Music Academy of the West

The UCSB Campus

UCSB is one of ten campuses in the University of California system. The campus is located on an 815-acre coastal site nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez mountain range, 10 miles from Santa Barbara and 100 miles north of Los Angeles.

UC Santa Barbara has a reputation as a world-class research university, offering studies in more than 200 majors, degrees, and credentials through UCSB's five schools and the Graduate Division.

UCSB was recently ranked the 6th in its "Top Public Schools" category by US News & World Report, and almost half of its departments have been cited among the top 20 in the country. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, UCSB is home to five Nobel Laureates, about 900 renowned faculty members and dozens of elected members or fellows of prominent academies and associations.

Student enrollment is 24,500, and our combined student population is increasingly multicultural and highly competitive.  More than 70% of the students live on campus or in the adjacent community of Isla Vista, which creates a stimulating student residential environment.

Counseling and Psychological Services

The Counseling Center and Placement Center at UCSB were merged in November 1979 as an integrated service, with career planning as the unifying concept for the agency at that time. In 1984, after five years of planning, the counseling and placement departments moved into a new building specifically designed for these services, and the combined unit became known as Counseling & Career Services. Starting in 2005, administrative realities and subsequent decisions were made which resulted in the two functions, counseling and career, again being separated into two distinct agencies. Both agencies continue to share the same building and look to be one unit to the outside world. They continue to recognize that personal and career development are interrelated growth processes that occur along a continuum from self-assessment and self-understanding to eventual employment and life/career satisfaction.

Assisting students in determining where they are on this continuum and providing them with the skills and information they need to reach their personal and career goals are central activities of the two agencies. Programs are designed to address the developmental needs of students and their quality of life in the university environment as an integral part of the learning process.

The major service delivery functions of CAPS are personal counseling, crisis intervention, groups and consultation/outreach. Auxiliary and support functions include training, research and evaluation, organizational and staff development and administrative assistance. The services with which interns have the most contact are counseling, crisis intervention, groups, and consultation/outreach.

Counseling and Psychological Services includes individual and group counseling for personal, social, educational, and career concerns; workshops for interpersonal skill building and problem solving; personal development resources for self-improvement in areas such as stress reduction and anxiety; and crisis intervention in personal and campus emergencies. Special efforts have been made to extend counseling services to diverse student populations. Liaisons have been established with the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), Disabled Students Program (DSP), the Women’s Center, Housing and Residential Life, and The Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity (RCSGD). Interns have opportunities to explore multicultural counseling issues through these outreach programs and during case discussions and training seminars.