PhD Psychology at University of California, Santa Barbara

Programme overview

The Ph.D. program in Psychological & Brain Sciences is designed to be completed in five to six years. During the first year, you’ll complete a core set of courses designed to provide comprehensive coverage of theoretical and empirical issues in psychology and gain research experience under the supervision of a faculty advisor.

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

What you will study

Emphases offered: Human Development, Technology & Society.

Career pathways

Graduate and professional pathways include Academia; Industry. Top employers include Meta, Google, Riot Games.

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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