Is UC Santa Barbara a good company to work for?

UC Santa Barbara has an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5, based on over 2,329 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has increased by 2% over the last 12 months. 85% of employees would recommend working at UC Santa Barbara to a friend and 61% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about UC Santa Barbara have been left by employees working as Undergraduate Research Assistant , Graduate Student and Research Assistant .

Does UC Santa Barbara pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, UC Santa Barbara employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.7 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at UC Santa Barbara. This rating has improved by 2% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at UC Santa Barbara?

85% of UC Santa Barbara employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated UC Santa Barbara 4.2 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.2 for culture and values and 3.9 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at UC Santa Barbara?

Teaching Assistant (83) , Graduate Student Researcher (69) , Research Assistant (69) , Graduate Teaching Assistant (65) , Graduate Research Assistant (46) , Graduate Student (35) , Postdoctoral Researcher (35) , Postdoctoral Fellow (31) , Student Assistant (30) , PhD Student (29) , Student Worker (27) , Undergraduate Research Assistant (26) , Administrative Assistant (24) , Postdoctoral Scholar (23) , PhD Graduate Student (20)

What are the pros of working at UC Santa Barbara according to real employee reviews?

"Great people and health care (if you live in CA)." ((in 123 reviews)); "Good benefits while you are a postdoc and at least one congress expenses per year is cover" ((in 113 reviews)); "Flexible hours and Convenient." ((in 100 reviews)); "The campus is beautiful and large if you like walking around" ((in 76 reviews)); "Friendly staff and professors" ((in 51 reviews))

What are the cons of working at UC Santa Barbara according to real employee reviews?

"Pay is low and jobs are becoming harder to get as the state is cutting its budgets!" ((in 142 reviews)); "Low salary compared to the experience and expertise of researchers" ((in 61 reviews)); "Poor internal conflict resolution and management." ((in 22 reviews)); "Cost of living is high and Ph.D. pay is low." ((in 12 reviews)); "The management and leadership are terrible." ((in 8 reviews))

What are the top reviewed UC Santa Barbara locations?

Santa Barbara , Goleta , Isla Vista , Los Angeles , San Diego , San Francisco , New York , Orange , Santa Clarita , Ventura , Santa Clara , Santa Maria , Seattle , Salt Lake City , Chicago , Detroit , Tulsa , Washington , Honolulu , Nashville , Baltimore , California City , Anaheim , La Palma , Santa Ana , Van Nuys , Oxnard , Fontana , Upland , Carlsbad

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UC Santa Barbara

UC Santa Barbara reviews

4.4

85% would recommend to a friend

(2,091 total reviews)

Henry T. Yang

47% approve of CEO

61% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.3

Diversity & inclusion

4.2

Culture & values

4.2

Work/Life balance

4.0

Senior management

3.9

Career opportunities

3.7

Compensation and benefits

UC Santa Barbara has an employee rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars, based on 2,091 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The UC Santa Barbara employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

4.0

Apr 13, 2026

Student Job

Front desk

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Bosses work with school schedule, inside scoop into the department

Cons

professors requested full books to be scanned and often made their mistakes my emergency

5.0

Apr 13, 2026

Positive and welcoming work environment

Student peer mentor

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

A very positive and welcoming work environment.

Cons

I do not have any at the moment

4.0

Apr 4, 2026

Flexible Scheduling for Student Workers

Student research assistant

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

So flexible with scheduling and will work around your schedule!

Cons

For the SRC that’s only open M-F 9am-4pm, if you have take a lot of (Stem) classes with 3/4 hour labs, your paychecks are a little less than ideal.

Viewing 16 - 18 of 2,091 Reviews

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Jobs at UC Santa Barbara

Undergraduate Advisor

Jr. Specialist - Astrophysics and Theoretical Physics, Dept. of Physics (Pooled Recruitment #1)

Jr. Specialist - General Physics, Dept. of Physics (Pooled Recruitment #2)