page_title: University of California, Santa Barbara
section_title: Housing
hierarchical_section_title: University of California, Santa Barbara / Student activities and traditions / Housing
caption_attribution_description: San Clemente Villages, April 2009.
context_page_description: The University of California, Santa Barbara is a public research university in Santa Barbara, California, and one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. 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 undergraduate campus in the system.
  The university is a comprehensive doctoral university and is organized into five colleges and schools offering 87 undergraduate degrees and 55 graduate degrees. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". According to the National Science Foundation, UC Santa Barbara spent $235 million on research and development in fiscal year 2018, ranking it 100th in the nation. In his 2001 book The Public Ivies: America's Flagship Public Universities, author Howard Greene labeled UCSB a "Public Ivy".
  UC Santa Barbara is a research university with 10 national research centers, including the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Center for Control, Dynamical-Systems and Computation.
context_section_description: There are eight residence halls at UCSB, seven of which are located at the main campus. One, Santa Catalina (formerly Francisco Torres Towers), is located near the entrance to West Campus north of Isla Vista.
  Santa Catalina has its own dining commons, Portola Dining Commons, as well as a heated swimming pool, two lounges, numerous study rooms, two recreational rooms, a gym, as well as tennis courts and an expansive lawn. Because Santa Catalina is nearly 1 mi (1.6 km) off-campus, it has its own campus police station, as well as housing offices and Res-Net support center.
  The Main Campus residence halls are found in two different locations. On the east end of campus are the residence halls named after five of the Channel Islands: Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, San Miguel and San Nicolas. There are two dining commons located near the Channel Islands residence halls. The Ortega Dining Commons is located between San Miguel and the University Center (UCen), and the De La Guerra Dining Commons is located between Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and San Nicolas.
  The two other residence halls, San Rafael and Manzanita Village, are located on the west side of campus and primarily house continuing and transfer students. The Carrillo Dining Commons is located in Manzanita Village, right next to San Rafael Hall. Manzanita Village was completed in 2002, and is the newest residence hall on campus.
  In addition, the university also has four housing complexes for graduate students and their families: San Clemente Villages for single graduate students, Santa Ynez Apartments, El Dorado Apartments, Westgate Apartments, and family student housing: West Campus Apartments and the Storke Apartment complexes. There is also faculty housing at the West Campus Point and new construction underway at the North Campus. The Sierra Madre Villages, located by the West Campus Apartments, was completed in September 2015 and was the first residential complex certified as LEED platinum throughout the entire UC system. UC Santa Barbara is the only campus in the UC system with any "LEED for Homes" certifications.
  Private residence halls are also available to UCSB students. Tropicana Del Norte, located directly adjacent to the Main Campus, houses UCSB students in 51 furnished suites, and has an on-site dining hall and heated pool.
  Students may also choose to rent housing in the bordering community of Isla Vista. An estimated average for rent costs is $500 to $800 a month to share a bedroom, and includes trash pickup and water utilities. Parking on UCSB's campus is restricted during the day to students living farther than 2 miles from campus, so many Isla Vista residents often bike to class. Low-cost housing is limited, with the cheapest source being the Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative.
  Other sources of housing include the Greek system, and outlying communities (i.e., Goleta, Santa Barbara, Isla Vista, Montecito). Some students live in Isla Vista, which is immediately adjacent to campus. Since the early '60s, Isla Vista has had a reputation of being a party environment. UCSB is also affiliated with the Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative in Isla Vista, which seeks to provide low rent co-op housing regardless of gender, race, social, political, or religious affiliation, thereby influencing the community to eliminate prejudice and discrimination in the community.
caption: San Clemente Villages in April 2009
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