UCSB was originally a small independent teacher's college, but it was designated a University of California campus after World War II during the UC's postwar expansion and was relocated and rebuilt accordingly. UCSB now 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 and the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education.

UCSB also hosts eight National Research Centers, including the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (of which Steven Hawking and many other of the world's prominent theoretical physicists hold offices) and the Materials Research Laboratory. (Five of these Centers are supported by the National Science Foundation). Its faculty includes 5 Nobel laureates, 14 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 26 members of the National Academy of Engineering, and 12 members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

UCSB has risen to be among the nations top ten universities for studies in physics, receiving more Nobel laureates in the last five years than Berkeley has in the last ten.