Incoming PhD Student Financial and Residency Resources

BARC and UCSB Business & Financial Services
The Billings Accounts Receivable Collections unit (BARC) is the UCSB campus centralized receivable system. This system allows students to view any outstanding balances, including registration fees, campus housing charges, phone bills, and student health services. Visit the Business & Financial Services website for more information on how to access your BARC account and pay your bill.

Paying your Bill
UCSB students must pay their fees in full by the first day of instruction (Thursday, September 26, 2024). Acceptable forms of payment include cash, money order, checks, E-checks, credit card, or domestic and international wire transfers. All checks should be made out to UC Regents and include your PERM number or billing account number on the check.

If for some reason you cannot make a payment in full, call the UCSB Business & Financial Services Office at 805-893-3756 to set up a payment plan.

Statement of Legal Residence (SLR)
All new graduate students are required to submit a Statement of Legal Residence (SLR) under a UC system-wide policy. Please do this as soon as possible after submitting your Statement of Intent to Register (SIR). Students are considered non-CA residents and assessed non-resident fees until their SLR is reviewed and residence classified. 

Establishing California Residency for Tuition Purposes
To establish California residency, students must 1) be continuously physically present in California for more than one year (366 days) immediately prior to the residence determination date (e.g., the first day of classes), AND 2) intend to make California their home permanently. You can demonstrate your intention to stay in California by relinquishing legal ties to your former state and establishing legal ties to California. View some of the ways to establish intent, as identified by the University of California Office of the President (UCOP), by visiting the How to Establish Residency section of UCOP's Understanding Residency website.

Out-of-state students who wish to establish in-state residency for their second year of study may wish to begin the process during their first year of study. Questions regarding residency may be answered at the UCSB Registrar's website or submitted to the UCSB Residency Deputy (residency@sa.ucsb.edu).

Fellowship Award Disbursement
For students receiving a Bren School recruitment fellowship, your BARC account will be credited by the first day of instruction, as long as you are registered for class well in advance of the first day of school. You may still receive an email from BARC prior to the start of the fall quarter regarding required payment of fees. Your account will be credited with your quarterly award amount by the first day of Fall Quarter . If for some reason you still do not see a credit after the start of the quarter, please contact the Bren School Student Affairs and Admissions team. 

All students receiving departmental awards have already been notified. Unless notified by the Bren School, there is nothing further you need to do as a fellowship recipient to process these funds (other than make sure you are registered for class!).

Financial Aid and FAFSA
Students' Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms are processed by UCSB's Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (not the Bren School). UCSB graduate students are notified of eligibility for student loans by the Financial Aid Office during the summer. You can check your financial aid status by logging-in here. Any questions regarding financial aid packages and loans should be directed to the UCSB Financial Aid office at 805-893-2432.

When you complete the FAFSA, you may qualify for work-study, which can be applied to employment opportunities both on and off campus (if the employer qualifies). Hiring students with work-study awards is beneficial to employers because the work-study program pays a percentage of the student employees gross wage. You must elect to use your work-study award, so please make sure you fill out the appropriate paperwork. You can search for on and off-campus work-study positions on the UCSB Career Services website. In most cases, Student Assistant and Research Assistant Positions are eligible to use work-study.

Academic Student Employment (ASE)

Overview

Academic Student Employment includes Teaching Assistant (TA) and/or Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) positions. Employment as a TA and/or GSR at 25% or more time will pay your salary, academic fees, tuition, and health insurance for the quarters when you are employed. Salaries for TA and GSR appointments are presented on the UCSB website under Academic Personnel/Academic Compensation and Benefits/UCSB Salary Scales (Current)/Student Titles. You will work with your faculty advisor to apply to and secure your Academic Student Employment positions. We advise that students begin to apply for TA or GSR positions in Spring Quarter prior to the academic year when Academic Student Employment is anticipated.

TEACHING ASSISTANT (TA) POSITIONS

The Bren School strives to provide our graduate students with opportunities to make their doctoral education affordable by making it a goal to offer five-year funding packages to each admitted PhD student. Typically, students are admitted with a package that includes on-campus employment. One type of on-campus employment that students commonly pursue are Teaching Assistant (TA) positions. These positions are a great way for students to gain teaching experience while offsetting costs of school.

If you are employed as a TA at 25-50% time (10-20 hours per week, respectively), you receive a salary and of payment of tuition and health insurance for the quarter(s) you are employed (see the table below). TA positions do not cover the $5,034 per quarter Non-Resident Supplemental Tuition (NRST). For more information, please visit the UCSB Graduate Division website's Academic Appointments section.

The TA salary scale represents a 100% time appointment (which is not permitted by the university). To determine salary, TAs need to apply the % time appointment to that scale. For example, most TA positions are 50% time appointments, so one academic quarter's salary would be 50% of quarterly salary listed in the table. Another common appointment is 25% time. The salary is typically paid out monthly over the course of the quarter, but TAs should discuss the specifics of the position with the department they are hired by. TAships are regarded as Academic Student Employment (ASE). ASEs whose appointment is at least 25% time qualify for a partial fee remission (includes tuition and student services fee) and payment of health insurance. The salary is in addition to the tuition and insurance coverage. More information can be found here and here.

Any student who has secured a TA position for any department on campus is required to attend a mandatory TA Orientation. Any student who secures a TA position at a later point in the school year may schedule a make-up orientation with Lisa Berry (lisa@id.ucsb.edu; 805-893-8395) at UCSB Instructional Development. All TA's are also required to complete Sexual Harassment Prevention training and in many instances must complete additional trainings specific to the department. For example, MCDB and EEMB require students to complete Lab Safety Training and to enroll in a special course: MCSB/EEMB 502, to be eligible for their positions. It is the student's responsibility to ensure they have completed the proper training. Before accepting a position, please make sure you know what training, weekly meetings or other commitments you are responsible for your position and ensure they do not conflict with your course schedule. It is not acceptable to miss class on a regular basis for TA duties. 

How to find a TA position
At UC Santa Barbara, students are eligible to TA for the level of education they have completed. The Bren School relies on Bren PhD students to TA its master's courses. PhD students may also work as TAs in other UCSB departments if there aren't any opportunities available at Bren. Bren staff distribute any advertisements received from departments via email to incoming students; however, students who wish to secure TA positions should directly contact UCSB departments with undergraduate programs that employ TA's. All UCSB departments have a different process and timeline for recruiting TAs. TA selection for Fall Quarter typically starts in Spring Quarter and continues throughout the summer up until just before the start of the school year. 

Graduate Student Researcher (GSR)

A GSR is a graduate student who assists faculty members with scholarly research. Graduate Student Researchers are selected for high achievement and promise as creative scholars; they may collaborate in the publication of research results as determined by supervising faculty members.

Please reference your admission letter and talk with your advisor to see if you were offered a GSR position as part of your funding package. These positions are arranged directly with faculty advisors and have the same financial benefits as TA appointments (see above).