If you’re looking for a top-tier university with great academics, plenty of opportunities for extracurricular involvement, and a breathtaking campus overlooking the Pacific that has to be seen to be believed, then there’s no better school in the country than UC Santa Barbara. Not only is UC Santa Barbara a beautiful campus with a thriving student culture, but its professors routinely rank among the best in the nation.
UCSB also has some of the nicest freshman housing in the country. Imagine looking out your window every morning and seeing the Pacific coast below. The best dorms at UCSB depend on the person, but popular options include Manzanita Village, Santa Rosa Hall, and Santa Catalina Hall.
Table of Contents
- Manzanita Village
- Santa Rosa Hall
- Santa Catalina Hall
- San Miguel Hall
- Santa Cruz Hall
- San Nicolas Hall
- San Rafael Hall
- Ancapa Hall
- How Much Do the Best Dorms at UCSB Cost?
- The Bottom Line on the Best Dorms at UCSB
Manzanita Village
- Room style: Mostly doubles and triples with a limited number of singles and small doubles
- Bathroom style: Suite
- Sink in room: No
- Carpet in room: Yes
- Fitness Room: Yes
- Pool: Yes
- Laundry facilities: Yes
Manzanita Village is one of the best dorms at UCSB for freshmen because of its location, cozy living environment, and amenities. It sits on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean — people go their entire lives without living somewhere so picturesque and breathtaking. Rather than having long, corridor-style halls and massive community bathrooms, Manzanita is arranged into “communities” housing a small number of freshmen each, who tend to form close bonds.
Manzanita has plenty of amenities both inside and outside the building. The fitness room, while nowhere near as lavish as the Rec Cen, is a great place to get a quick morning workout in before class when you’re pressed for time. The dorm also has its own pool where you can relax and study after class. It’s near the Carrillo dining hall, so you won’t have to walk far for meals.
How to get in: You can ensure a spot in Manzanita Village by signing up for the Rainbow House LLC or the Women in STEM LLC.
Santa Rosa Hall
- Room style: Doubles and triples
- Bathroom style: Hall
- Sink in room: No
- Carpet in room: Yes
- Fitness Room: Yes
- Pool: No
- Laundry facilities: Yes
Santa Rosa Hall is a smaller dorm, only two stories, and it’s situated close to just about everything: the beach, the dining hall, the library, and academic buildings. It’s mixed gender, so males and females can live on the same floor, though they have separate community bathrooms. Santa Rosa offers a mixture of double and triple room configurations.
Freshmen love Santa Rosa for its amenities, including not one but two pools. If you’re musically inclined, Santa Rosa has one of the largest pianos on campus. There are plenty of racks to store your surfboard, too.
How to get in: The African American Studies and College of Creative Studies LLCs are both housed in Santa Rosa Hall, so the easiest way to get in is to sign up for one of those.
Santa Catalina Hall
- Room style: Doubles and triples
- Bathroom style: Suite
- Sink in room: No
- Carpet in room: Yes
- Fitness Room: Yes
- Pool: Yes
- Laundry facilities: Yes
Santa Catalina Hall is the largest freshman dorm on UCSB’s campus. It consists of two buildings, both over 10 stories tall, housing a total of nearly 1,500 students. If you want an active, almost frenetic social environment and to be where the action is, Santa Catalina is a great choice. You’ll never be bored, nor will you lack people to hang out with. The dorm is conveniently located: you can get to central campus in about 10 minutes by bicycle (less if you hoof it) and don’t have to ride along any major streets to get there.
Santa Catalina is active and social, but it’s not the stereotypical gross party dorm. Its amenities are quite nice, including a pool, fitness center, and piano.
How to get in: Be a first-generation scholar (only available to students who are the first in their family to attend college) or join one of the Scholars Floors, including the Regent Scholars or Chancellor’s Scholars. Or you could apply for one of the Honors programs, such as engineering or letters and science.
San Miguel Hall
- Room style: Doubles and triples with a limited selection of singles
- Bathroom style: Hall
- Sink in room: No
- Carpet in room: Yes
- Fitness Room: Yes
- Pool: No
- Laundry facilities: Yes
San Miguel is located on the main campus, giving you access to virtually everything UCSB has to offer. Depending on the direction your room is facing, you’ll enjoy a view of the beach, the lagoon, the mountains, or the campus. With about 475 residents, San Miguel is a mid-sized dorm — not so small you’re already sick of everyone by fall break, but not so massive that you feel anonymous. The community bathrooms are spacious and usually clean, thanks to the custodial staff.
Amenities include a fitness room, a volleyball court, a basketball court, and a piano.
How to get in: You can get into San Miguel Hall by joining a Scholars Floor or the Chicanx/Latinx LLC.
Santa Cruz Hall
- Room style: Doubles and triples
- Bathroom style: Hall
- Sink in room: No
- Carpet in room: Yes
- Fitness Room: No
- Pool: No
- Laundry facilities: Yes
If surfing is your passion, Santa Cruz hall is one of the best dorms at UCSB to live in. It’s located a short walk from Campus Point Beach, one of the best surfing spots in Santa Barbara. The dorm is only two stories, but it’s so close to the beach that you can often snag a room with an ocean view. Otherwise, you’ll look out your window and see either the lagoon or the campus — not bad, especially compared to the parking lot views dorm residents are treated to at most other colleges.
Santa Cruz Hall lacks a fitness room or a pool, but if you’re into staying active like most UCSB students are, there is a basketball court and a volleyball court. Otherwise, Rec Cen is a short bike ride away.
How to get in: To get into Santa Cruz Hall, join the First-Year Residential Experience (FYRE) or the Chicanx/Latinx Scholars LLC.
San Nicolas Hall
- Room style: Doubles and triples
- Bathroom style: Hall
- Sink in room: No
- Carpet in room: Yes
- Fitness Room: No
- Pool: No
- Laundry facilities: Yes
San Nicolas hall is also close to Campus Point Beach. Its a little farther out from central campus than Santa Cruz Hall or San Miguel Hall, but it’s a popular first-year housing option if you like the beach and surfing. It offers comfortable double rooms with some triples, a classroom and conference rooms, and one of those most lavish rec rooms of any dorm on campus, featuring billiards, ping-pong, foosball, and air hockey. There is also a piano in the dorm.
Outdoor amenities at San Nicolas include a sand volleyball court and a basketball court. You can store your surfboard on the dorm’s surf racks.
How to get in: You can get into San Nicolas Hall by joining one of the Scholars Floors.
San Rafael Hall
- Room style: Mostly doubles with some singles
- Bathroom style: Suite
- Sink in room: No
- Carpet in room: Yes
- Fitness Room: Yes
- Pool: Yes
- Laundry facilities: Yes
San Rafael Hall is located next to Manzanita Village and offers many of the same amenities. It has more single rooms available than any other freshman dorm — you’ll pay a higher price for these — and the dorm is configured into comfortable, modern suites. It’s set a little farther back from the bluffs than Manzanita but still offers the same panoramic views, plus a short walk or ride to central campus. The dorm has lounges, kitchenettes, and private study spaces.
San Rafael is stocked with amenities. Whether you’re a fitness buff, an outdoors person, or a music enthusiast, there is something for you, from the pool to the volleyball courts to the piano to the fitness center.
How to get in: San Rafael doesn’t currently house any LLCs, so get your housing deposit in early if you want a spot.
Ancapa Hall
- Room style: Doubles and triples
- Bathroom style: Hall
- Sink in room: No
- Carpet in room: Yes
- Fitness Room: No
- Pool: No
- Laundry facilities: Yes
Ancapa Hall has one of the most ideal locations on campus, situated equidistantly from central campus, the lagoon, and Campus Point Beach. So you’re conveniently located to studying, surfing, and sunning. It has a mix of double and triple rooms, with hall bathrooms that are cleaned daily by residential life staff. You can snag a room with either a beach, lagoon, or lawn view.
How to get in: Since Ancapa Hall houses the Asian and Pacific Islander Scholars LLC, you can ensure a room by joining one of them.
How Much Do the Best Dorms at UCSB Cost?
One of the benefits of on-campus housing at UCSB is that the cost of a room varies only by room style and occupancy, not by building. In other words, all doubles cost the same, all singles cost the same, and all triples cost the same. That said, just because you’re willing and able to pay for a specific room style doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to get it. Single rooms in particular are in short supply, especially for freshmen. Most of them are reserved for students with demonstrated needs, such as a disability or mental health condition.
The cost of a dorm room at UCSB also depends on the meal plan you choose, as the university lumps room and board costs together. This table lists the annual costs for the various room types and meal plans at UCSB:
| Meals Per Week | Single Room | Small Double Room | Double Room | Triple Room |
| 19 | $21,276 | $16,435 | $19,731 | $18,186 |
| 14 | $20,771 | $15,930 | $19,226 | $17,681 |
| 10 | $20,365 | $15,524 | $18,820 | $17,275 |
A couple of observations about dorm room prices at UCSB:
A Small Double Room Is Much Cheaper Than a Triple Room
A traditional double room is the most common type of dorm configuration at UCSB, but if you’re considering alternatives, it’s worth noting that a small double room is much cheaper than a triple room. You’ll be living in a smaller space — typically less than 150 square feet — but you’ll only be sharing it with one other person.
We always caution college freshmen against high-occupancy dorm rooms and encourage students to avoid these whenever possible. Fortunately, UCSB doesn’t go any higher than a triple room. Some schools, such as UW Madison and CU Boulder, have five-person and even six-person rooms. That’s five or six people sharing not a suite or an apartment but a basic dorm room, which we think is nuts. Even a triple can be pushing it, as it means coordinating three different bedtimes, three different wake-up times, and three different living styles. There are just too many problems that can arise, which is why we recommend a double room whenever possible.
The Larger Meal Plans Are a Better Deal
The price of a 19-meal plan is only about $900 more than a 10-meal plan. Given that the academic year is 34 weeks, that works out to about $3 per meal — far cheaper than you can find a meal off-campus, even at a bastion of bad food like McDonald’s or Taco Bell.
The Bottom Line on the Best Dorms at UCSB
The dorms at UCSB are kind of like the entrees at Morton’s — even the worst ones are much better than you can find most anywhere else. The best dorms at UCSB rival any college in the country. So, if you’re headed to Santa Barbara for college in the fall, I wouldn’t stress too much over your living situation. It’s going to be fantastic no matter what. That said, the tips in this guide should help you end up in the best spot on campus for your personality and living style.
