Nearby colleges
Colleges near Santa Barbara, CA
8 colleges and universities sit within 25 miles of Santa Barbara, California — 6 in Santa Barbara itself and the rest across the surrounding area. The table below is ordered by measured distance and includes cost, admissions, and graduation data.
Colleges near Santa Barbara by the numbers
- Lowest published in-state tuition
- Santa Barbara City College ($1,240)
- Median in-state tuition (8 reporting)
- $15,977
- Median net price after aid (4 reporting)
- $22,581
- Highest graduation rate
- University of California-Santa Barbara (83%)
- Most selective
- University of California-Santa Barbara (33% acceptance)
- Largest by enrollment
- University of California-Santa Barbara (26,041 students)
Colleges within 25 miles of Santa Barbara
Nearest first. Showing 8 of 8. Distance is straight-line from the centre of the Santa Barbara campus cluster, not driving time.
| College | Distance | Location | In-state tuition | Avg. net price | Acceptance rate | Graduation rate | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fielding Graduate University | <1 mi | Santa Barbara, CA | $15,977 | Not reported | 74% | Not reported | University |
| The Colleges of Law at Santa Barbara | <1 mi | Santa Barbara, CA | $15,977 | Not reported | 82% | Not reported | University |
| Antioch University-Santa Barbara | 1 mi | Santa Barbara, CA | $15,977 | Not reported | 80% | Not reported | University |
| Santa Barbara City College | 2 mi | Santa Barbara, CA | $1,240 | $11,315 | 100% | 34% | Community college |
| Westmont College | 4 mi | Santa Barbara, CA | $53,584 | $29,053 | 77% | 70% | University |
| University of California-Santa Barbara | 7 mi | Santa Barbara, CA | $16,414 | $16,109 | 33% | 83% | University |
| Pacifica Graduate Institute | 8 mi | Carpinteria, CA | $15,977 | Not reported | 90% | Not reported | University |
| Lionel University | 14 mi | Carpinteria, CA | $15,265 | $29,453 | 100% | 67% | University |
What the Santa Barbara area looks like
- Within 25 miles of Santa Barbara CampusPin finds 8 colleges. 6 of them are in Santa Barbara itself; the rest are in surrounding communities. Distances are measured from the centre of the Santa Barbara campus cluster.
- Santa Barbara City College has the lowest published in-state tuition among the 8 nearby colleges listed, at $1,240. Commuting from home is one of the largest levers on total cost, since housing is often the single biggest line after tuition.
- 1 of the 8 colleges shown are community colleges, which typically offer the lowest published tuition in a metro and transfer pathways into nearby four-year campuses.
How this list was built
This page runs a real geographic query: every college whose campus coordinates fall within 25 miles of Santa Barbara is included, ordered by distance. No college appears here unless it is genuinely that close.
The Santa Barbara anchor point is the average position of the campuses CampusPin holds for the city, so it reflects where colleges actually are rather than a civic centre-point. Distances are straight-line and are a guide to proximity, not a commute estimate.
Frequently asked questions
- How many colleges are near Santa Barbara, CA?
- CampusPin finds 8 colleges and universities within 25 miles of Santa Barbara, California. That includes 6 located in Santa Barbara itself plus campuses in the surrounding area that are realistically commutable.
- What is the closest college to Santa Barbara?
- Of the colleges on this page, Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara is the nearest to the Santa Barbara campus cluster at about under a mile. The table is ordered by distance, so the top rows are always the closest.
- Can I commute to college from Santa Barbara?
- Every college on this page is within 25 miles of Santa Barbara, which is a plausible commute for many students, though actual travel time depends on traffic and transit rather than straight-line distance. Check each college's profile for its exact location, and confirm commuter services and parking with the campus directly.
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Data sources & methodology
Locations, cost, and outcome figures for colleges near Santa Barbara come from federal datasets and each institution's own reporting.
Sources used across this page
Not every source informs every figure. Each data point draws on the source appropriate to it see the relevant section and the data dictionary for field-level provenance.
IPEDS / NCES College Navigator
Federal enrollment, admissions, tuition, retention, and program data. Released annually with a 1–2 year lag.
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard
Net price by income band, post-graduation earnings, and federal aid context.
Institutional websites
Each school's official admissions, registrar, and financial-aid pages are the authoritative source for current details.
Where a value is unavailable it is shown as unavailable, never as 0, free, or a negative judgment. Always confirm final details with the institution before applying.
Suggested citation
CampusPin. Colleges Near Santa Barbara, CA. Retrieved from https://campuspin.com/colleges-near/santa-barbara-ca