UCSB accepts more international, California students in the past 5 years

UC Santa Barbara accepted more than 12,000 international students for the upcoming school year — a jump of over 3,000 from last academic year. Only UC Davis accepted more international students this year. The latest numbers are housed in a University of California 2026 admissions report. The UC system also admitted the most California residents to its nine campuses in university system history. UCSB admitted 12,024 first-time international students for fall 2026, tripling the amount the university had admitted just three years prior. But not everyone who is accepted, actually ends up enrolling. Last year the university accepted nearly 9,000 international students but only 1,963 were enrolled by fall 2025. The political climate surrounding immigration has made it more difficult for some students to obtain student visas to attend school in the U.S. “Changes to visa policies, financial aid, and other external factors may make it less likely that nonresident stu