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Its liberal arts traditions and internationally-renowned research make the College of Letters and Science an ideal place for graduate study. UC Santa Barbara is known for its interdisciplinary landscape, and the campus’s 57 master's and Ph.D. programs offer a wide array of options for graduate study, including innovative interdisciplinary graduate emphases and projects which bring together faculty and students from the College, the College of Engineering, the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, and 80 outstanding research units, centers, and institutes. Graduate students receive training as scholars, artists, researchers, and teachers, and are prepared for positions in academia, industry, public life, and various professions.

The College plays a central role in many campus-wide, interdisciplinary programs and optional emphases for doctoral students in a wide variety of departments.
 
For example, the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Marine Science is affiliated with nine departments (Anthropology, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, Earth Science, Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, Geography, Mechanical Engineering, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology) and the Marine Science Institute.

The groundbreaking program in Media Arts and Technology fuses emergent media, computer science, engineering, and electronic music and digital art research, practice, production, and theory. Created by faculty in the College of Letters and Science and the College of Engineering, MAT offers an unparalleled opportunity to work at the frontiers of art, science, and technology, where new art forms are born, new technologies are developed, and new expressive media are invented. Students may earn M.S., M.A. or Ph.D. degrees.
 
Interdisciplinary Ph.D. emphases include:
  • Technology and Society (for doctoral students in Anthropology, Communication, Computer Science, English, Film and Media Studies, History, Media Arts and Technology, Political Science, and Sociology).
  • Cognitive Science (Computer Science, Education, Geography, Linguistics, and Psychology.)
  • Human Development (Anthropology, Communication, Education, Linguistics, Psychology and Sociology).
  • Computational Science and Engineering (Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Earth Science, Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mathematics, and Mechanical Engineering).
  • Feminist Studies (Anthropology, Chicana and Chicano Studies, Comparative Literature, Education, Theater and Dance, English, Film and Media Studies, French and Italian, German Literature, History, History of Art and Architecture, Linguistics, Music, Political Science, Religious Studies, Sociology, and Spanish and Portuguese).
  • Applied Linguistics (East Asian Studies, Education, French and Italian, German Literature, and Spanish and Portuguese).
  • Global Studies (Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Religious Studies and Sociology). The Department of Global and International Studies also offers a 2-year MA degree for students interested in working for international non-governmental organizations.
  • Medieval Studies (English, French, History, Hispanic Language and Literature, History of Art and Architecture, Religious Studies, Theater Studies).