University of California, Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is a selective, research-oriented public university located on the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara County, California, USA. It is one of 10 campuses of the University of California. Its current student body is around 20,000. UCSB ranks as the 35th university worldwide and the 27th in the United States in the 2007 Academic Ranking of World Universities, which measures scientific research leading toward a Nobel Prize. U.S. News & World Report ranks the university as the 44th best in the United States in terms of quality of undergraduate education.

History

The predecessor to UCSB, Santa Barbara State College, focused on teacher training, industrial arts, home economics, and foreign languages. Intense lobbying by an interest group in the City of Santa Barbara led by Thomas Storke and Pearl Chase persuaded the State Legislature, Governor Earl Warren, and the Regents of the University of California to move the State College over to the more research-oriented University of California system in 1944. The State College system sued to stop the takeover, but the Governor did not support the suit. A state initiative was passed, however, to stop subsequent conversions of State Colleges to University of California campuses.

Originally, the Regents envisioned a small, several thousand-student liberal arts college, a so-called `Williams College of the West,' at Santa Barbara. Chronologically, UCSB is only the third general-education campus of the University of California, after Berkeley and UCLA (the only other state campus to have been acquired by the UC system.) The original campus the Regents acquired in Santa Barbara was located on only one hundred acres of largely unusable land on a seaside mesa, however. The availability of a 400 acre ex-Marine Base on another seaside mesa in Goleta, which the Regents could acquire for free from the federal government, led to that site becoming the Santa Barbara campus in 1949. Originally, only 3000-3500 students were anticipated, but the post WWII baby boom led to the designation of general campus in 1958, along with a name change from "Santa Barbara College" to "University of California, Santa Barbara," and the discontinuation of the industrial arts program for which the State college was famous. A Chancellor, Samuel B. Gould, was appointed in 1959. All of this change was done in accordance with the California Master Plan for Higher Education.

Academics

UC Santa Barbara is one of only 62 research-intensive institutions elected to membership in the Association of American Universities. UCSB celebrates the five Nobel Prizes won by faculty members since 1998 for landmark research in chemistry, physics, and economics. U.S. News and World Report's guide, "America's Best Colleges," the most widely read college guide in the country, ranks UCSB the 16th best public university in the nation. UCSB was selected as one of the first California Institutes for Science and Innovation. Among all applicants (47,893 for Fall 2006), 12,033 had a high school Grade Point Average of 4.0 or higher.

UCSB has three undergraduate colleges: the College of Letters & Science, the College of Engineering, and the College of Creative Studies. The College of Creative Studies offers students an alternative approach to education by allowing them to pursue advanced, independent work in the arts, mathematics, and sciences.

The campus also has two professional schools, the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science, located in Bren Hall, and the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education. UCSB also hosts eight National Research Centers, including the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (at which many of the world's prominent theoretical physicists, including Stephen Hawking, are regular visitors) and the Materials Research Laboratory. Five of these Centers are supported by the National Science Foundation. Its faculty includes 5 Nobel laureates, 25 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 24 members of the National Academy of Engineering,and 21 members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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Short Facts

In addition to five winners of Nobel Prizes, UCSB's faculty includes many elected members or fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (25), the National Academy of Sciences (27), the National Academy of Engineering (27), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (38).

UCSB is one of only 62 institutions elected to membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. And the Newsweek guide to America's best colleges has named UCSB one of the country's "hottest colleges" twice in the past five years.

UCSB Ranked 117th in the 2007 THES-QS World University Ranking

UCSB Ranked 98th in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking
UCSB Ranked 106th in the 2009 THES-QS World University Ranking
UCSB Ranked 116th in the 2010 QS World University Ranking

UCSB Ranked 118th in the 2011 QS World University Ranking

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin (often referred to as The University of Texas, UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a doctoral/research university located in Austin, Texas. It is the flagship institution of The University of Texas System.

The University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest public universities in the United States. Founded in 1883, the university has grown from a single building, eight teachers, two departments and 221 students to a 350-acre main campus with 21,000 faculty and staff, 16 colleges and schools and almost 50,000 students.

The university’s reach goes far beyond the borders of the main campus with satellite campuses and research centers across Texas, including the J.J. Pickle Research Campus, the Marine Science Institute, the McDonald Observatory, the Montopolis Research Center and the Brackenridge tract.

With an enrollment of 11,000 students and more than 3,500 master’s and doctor’s degrees awarded annually, the graduate school is a national leader in graduate degrees awarded and one of the largest graduate schools in the nation.

More than 8,700 bachelor’s degrees are awarded annually in more than 170 fields of study and 100 majors.

The university has one of the most diverse student populations in the country and is a national leader in the number of undergraduate degrees awarded to minority students.

The main campus is located less than a mile from the Texas State Capitol in Austin. According to The Public Ivies: America's Flagship Public Universities (2001) by Howard and Matthew Greene, The University of Texas at Austin is one of America's "Public Ivy" institutions of higher education, defined by the authors as a public institution that "provides an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price."

The university also operates various auxiliary facilities aside from the main campus, most notably the J. J. Pickle Research Campus. Texas is a major center for academic research, annually exceeding $380 million in funding. In addition, the university's athletic programs were recognized by Sports Illustrated, which dubbed UT "America's Best Sports College" in 2002.

with more than 3,500 research projects, 90 research units and annual research funding exceeding $400 million, The University of Texas at Austin is one of the nation’s leading public research universities.

More than 400 patents have been awarded to the university since its inception. Licensing deals generate more than $5 million annually for the university.

From making detailed measurements of the Earth’s gravity field, developing nanospheres to more effectively deliver drugs inside the human body, documenting global warming and creating devices to quickly and effectively test AIDS patients, researchers at the university work to address important social issues and problems and improve the human condition.

The University of Texas at Austin helps build a strong regional economy and provides an educated workforce for Central Texas. Its museums, libraries and athletic facilities serve the local community and the seven million tourists that visit Austin each year. The university transforms people. And those people, in turn, change the world.

The UT Tower has been the university’s most recognizable landmark and symbol since it was completed in 1937. At 307 feet, the 27-floor Tower can be seen from almost any location in Austin.

Bevo, a Texas longhorn, has been the school’s mascot since 1916. The longhorn represents the pride and tradition of the university.

Created in 1955 by head cheerleader Harley Clark Jr., the Hook ’em Horns hand signal is recognized worldwide as the symbol of the Texas Longhorns.

“The Eyes of Texas,” the official alma mater of The University of Texas at Austin, was written by John Sinclair in 1903.

The Longhorn Band, often referred to as “The Showband of the Southwest,” is one of the nation’s most recognized and celebrated marching bands. In addition to performing at athletic events, the band is an ambassador for the university and the state, performing for U.S. presidents, at Super Bowls and National Football League games.

The university is annually ranked among the country’s very best public research universities and many of its colleges, schools and departments are considered among the finest in the nation. Because of its high academic quality and relatively low cost, the university is consistently cited as one of the best values in American higher education by publications such as the Fiske Guide to Colleges, the Princeton Review and the Kiplinger Business Magazine.

The Times of London, in a 2004 survey of colleges and universities around the world, ranked The University of Texas at Austin the 15th-best university in the world.

In the latest survey by the National Research Council, seven doctoral programs ranked in the top 10 in the nation, and 22 departments ranked in the top 25. Among Texas colleges and universities, The University of Texas at Austin ranked No. 1 in 30 of the 37 fields in which it was evaluated.

The University of Texas at Austin ranked 51st in the 2007 THES - QS World University Ranking

The University of Texas at Austin ranked 70th in the 2008 THES - QS World University Ranking

The University of Texas at Austin ranked 76th in the 2009 THES - QS World University Ranking

The University of Texas at Austin ranked 67th in the 2010 QS World University Ranking

The University of Texas at Austin ranked 76th in the 2011 QS World University Ranking