PhD Philosophy at University of California, Santa Barbara

Programme overview

Our Philosophy graduate program has two objectives: to provide students, through coursework, with the broad familiarity of a variety of philosophical subjects that students need to become well-rounded philosophers and effective teachers; and to develop students’ potential as researchers by giving them an opportunity to do supervised research, culminating in the writing of a doctoral dissertation.

Faculty: College of Letters and Science | Department: Department of Philosophy | Study mode: full-time | Location: Santa Barbara, CA, United States

Career pathways

Graduate and professional pathways include Academia; University and college administration and staff; Software and content development. Top employers include California Polytechnic University (tenure track professor), Sunkyunkwan University, S. Korea (tenure track professor), Pasadena City College (tenure track professor).

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

University-level graduate application (applies to all UCSB graduate programmes): online application through the Graduate Division with transcripts from all post-secondary institutions, statement of purpose, personal history statement, résumé/CV, three letters of recommendation, TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo English Test scores where applicable, and GRE scores only if the programme requires them; deadlines and any programme-specific requirements are set by the department.

Domestic applicants: USD 13,722 a year (2026-27). Resident (California) graduate tuition for the year (4,574 per quarter x 3 quarters as listed in the yearly column), stated for UCSB graduate students generally; excludes Student Service Fee, campus-based fees, tech fee and student health insurance. Nonre Source

Graduate applicants apply through the UCSB online graduate application; the deadline is set by each department. Application fee: $135 for US citizens and permanent residents, $155 for all others, payable by credit card, check or money order. GRE required only by some programmes.

Apply through the official page: https://www.graddiv.ucsb.edu/admissions

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