Welcoming Our Community of Scholars this Fall 2026
The Graduate Division team is excited to welcome 809 new graduate students to UC Santa Barbara at the Orientation and Resource Fair on September 23. To kick off the academic year, we’re sharing a digital snapshot about our incoming cohort.
This year's graduate student cohort represents 42 countries across the globe. Over seventy-four percent of our incoming cohort are from the United States, with over 25 percent from abroad. China still leads in the number of incoming international students, making up 12 percent of this year's new cohort.
Our domestic students come from 40 states across the nation, with California is still the source of the largest number of US students, making up 65.9 percent. This year, Illinois and Washington tied providing the second largest populations of incoming graduate students from the USA, with Texas in third place.
Our incoming cohort represent many different communities and identities. White/Caucasian students make up 37.3 percent of this year's new graduate students, with students of Chinese descent at 17.8 percent and Chicanx/Mexican Americans at 13.1 percent. Overall, students from underrepresented communities in the United States make up 29.1 percent of the new cohort. Over sixteen percent of all our new students are the first in their family to pursue a college degree.
Women dominate this year's cohort, making up 47.2 percent of the total population. Diverse gender identities make up over 7 percent of the total incoming student population.
Our youngest member of this year's cohort is 19 years old, with the oldest at 52. Majority of our new students are aged 22 to 25 years old.
Learn more about our graduate student cohorts over the years by visiting our UCSB Graduate Statistics page.