2017 News

Now in its 50th year, the College of Creative Studies, UCSB’s little college that could, recalls how it started — and what’s kept it going

It's hard to describe exactly the debt I owe to the College of Creative Studies. Telling people in the years since that I was a Lit major, never really did it justice. I suppose I am preaching to the choir when I say there is something truly magical about CCS.

What I am going to tell you may run counter to your expectation, as stories of this sort typically relate the romanticized memory of a revelation delivered by a favorite professor or some epiphany received in the course of study. While I have many brilliant memories of my all too brief years at CCS, my takeaway seems incongruous and more personal than any one transcendent moment discovered in the throes of academic reverie.

A very warm welcome to all of our CCS students! We have 112 new students entering the College...

The College of Creative Studies offered talented undergraduates an opportunity to do advanced work in their fields while working on their undergraduate degrees. This enlightened approach to higher education has proven to offer invaluable help to many people who might otherwise simply have "marked time" during their undergraduate years or who might even have dropped out of college.

In its 2018 listing of the “Top 30 Public National Universities” in the country, U.S. News & World Report has ranked UC Santa Barbara No. 8.

I write to express my deep concern for our students and family members who are affected by this decision.

I remember the great creative freedom that I felt as a student of writing; how I learned to absorb Shakespeare and Milton by paraphrasing passages of famous poems in Robyn Bell's classes, and how I discovered a new kind of literary canon by studying writers from around the world throughout history.

It’s a mark on your skin you’ve never noticed before. It’s a spot with irregular borders, or a mole that seems to be changing.

Congratulations 2017 Graduates! A sample of quotes and pictures from the current graduation class about their time at CCS and UCSB.