In addition to the already busy workload of graduate students, housing can be another difficult task to navigate. The Santa Barbara housing market is one of the most competitive in California. We recommend that graduate students begin their search for housing several months before their expected arrival or end of current lease. Below you will find a recording of the Campus Housing Team with graduate specific resources.
Four key resources for you to keep on hand:
Health & Wellness
Student Health
Student Health provides exceptional, inclusive, compassionate, comprehensive, and integrated healthcare services to promote health and well-being in order to empower students to thrive throughout their university experience. They offer a variety of medical services including dental care, vision care, and urgent care, as well as laboratory testing and pharmacy services.
Counseling & Psychological Services
CAPS' mission is to assist Student Affairs and the University in helping the student body achieve academically, socially, and personally through culturally responsive mental health services. CAPS is committed to providing a safe, inclusive, and affirming environment to ensure that all students remain psychologically healthy in pursuit of their goals. All registered students are eligible for services at CAPS. When help is needed in sorting out a personal concern, CAPS is a resource for learning new skills in building self-confidence, relating to others, reducing stress, solving problems, and identifying options.
CAPS Support Groups
CAPS hosts multiple discussion groups specifically for graduate students to share their experiences, voice their concerns, and find a greater community: "Graduate Student Process Group" and "Creating Community: A Support Space for Graduate Students of African Heritage".
Mental Health Peer Services
The MHPS helps the students to navigate college experience more effectively. The MHPS provides:
- Drop-In Peer Counseling: the peers are trained to help students better manage some of the daily stressors from school & relationships. Stop by to talk and learn new tools to manage your current challenges.
- Massage & Egg Chair: Feeling stressed by life? Just want to practice good self care? Stop in to try out one of the 4 massage chairs or the egg chair to hit the reset button on your day and make everything feel a little bit better.
- Workshops: Learn how to better understand and manage your stressors, cope with academic anxiety, and become a master at relaxation by attending one of our workshops held throughout the quarter.
- School Anxiety Program: it includes three 1-hour long one-on-one sessions with a peer who will help you to learn important time management, coping, and relaxation skills to reduce your anxiety.
Hosford Counseling & Psychological Services Clinic
The Hosford Clinic is a university-based community clinic that is designed to provide culturally sensitive, low-cost individual, couple, family, and group psychological treatment to the entire Santa Barbara community. We serve the general public as well as students, faculty, and staff from our local universities/colleges. The Hosford Clinic serves as a training site for students in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology (CCSP) of the University of California, Santa Barbara and as a clinical-research facility for the faculty and students of the CCSP Department.
Student Mental Health Coordination Services
The SMHCS office is the single point of contact for the campus community to report concerns about a student in distress or a student distressing others. If you are worried about a fellow Gaucho, please refer to the Distressed Students Protocol for assistance determining an appropriate referral.
Distressed Students
The guide "Responding to Distressed Students" is an online excellent resource for providing information that may help in recognizing and responding to students in distress and making appropriate referrals.
Psychiatric Services
Student Health has psychiatrists and social workers who are available by referral from either Counseling and Psychological Services or primary care clinicians within Student Health. The psychiatrists provide evaluations and, if indicated, medication and short-term supportive psychotherapy. Students with UC Student Health Insurance Plan (UC SHIP) are not charged for these visits; students covered by other insurance will be billed through BARC.
Telemedicine Care
Students enrolled in UC SHIP (UC’s student health insurance program) can connect with a licensed medical professional or behavioral health professional virtually via smartphone, tablet, or computer using the LiveHealth Online service. No referral is needed, no co-pays, and LiveHealth Online service. No referral is needed, no co-pays, and LiveHealth direct bills SHIP Anthem Blue Cross (CA) for the telemedicine appointment.
Social Work Services
Student Health provides social services specializing in complex needs counseling, community referrals, academic adjustments around leaves of absence, ADHD screening, insurance consultation, and medical advocacy.
Alcohol and Drug Program
The UCSB Alcohol and Drug Program (ADP), a part of UCSB Student Health, strives to create a safe, healthy, and learning-conducive environment through the promotion of healthy choices concerning the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. The program emphasizes the elimination of harmful use, high-risk behavior, and related violence, and offers free, confidential counseling to all UCSB students.
Eating Disorder Support
Eating Disorders are complex and require several treatment modalities. has support to help students well enough to be in school, including:
- medical monitoring
- psychiatric evaluation
- nutrition support
Graduate Student Wellness
Check out the Health and Wellness website for a full list of programming available to all students and quarterly offerings just for grads.