AUSB Fast Facts
Antioch University Santa Barbara has served the Santa Barbara area since 1977, and has more than 4,500 alumni. Antioch University is a cohesive university system and as a whole serves more than 5,000 current students from across the country, online, and at its five campuses in four states (Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Seattle, Ohio, and New Hampshire) and has more than 30,000 alumni.
Antioch University Santa Barbara prepares our students for professional success and service to their communities. To further these goals, Antioch’s academic experience and curriculum focus on developing critical thinking, leadership, and an expansive worldview as the foundation for teaching and learning in all disciplinary fields of study. Our faculty, administrators, and staff strive to model and to nurture academic excellence and personal integrity based upon the basic values of ethical behavior, intellectual honesty, and tolerance for the beliefs, ideas, and cultural experiences of others.
Antioch University Santa Barbara Leadership
Dr. Barbara Lipinski, Provost & CEO
Non-Profit Status
Antioch University is organized and operated exclusively as a non-profit public benefit corporation and is not organized for the private gain of any purpose; it is exempt from income tax under the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Accreditation
Antioch University Santa Barbara is a private, non-profit institution accredited by Higher Learning Commission. We’re proud to have had continuous accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission since 1927 and our accreditation is secure for the future.
Hispanic Service Institution
Antioch University Santa Barbara has received Federal designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution under Titles III & V of the Higher Education Act.
Class Size
- AUSB’s classes are small with no more than 25 students in each class.
AUSB Students
- Ages: 19-68
- Undergraduate: About 45%
- Graduate: About 55%
Community Service
As part of our unique experiential education, students in all programs are required to spend time in the community, and on average spend one year in community service. AUSB places students in over 100 social services and education sites in Santa Barbara County.
Historical Snapshot
- Founded in Ohio in 1852 by Horace Mann, who served as its first president, Antioch’s unique learning model blended practical work experience with classroom learning.
- Antioch was the first college in the United States to grant a tenured professorship to a woman and the first college to offer the same curriculum to male and female students.
- Antioch was one of the first historically all-white colleges to eliminate race as an admission requirement and to actively recruit African American students.
- In 1977, the Santa Barbara campus was founded as Antioch University Southern California, a satellite of the Los Angeles campus.
- The Santa Barbara campus became Antioch University Santa Barbara (AUSB) in 2007, no longer a satellite of the Los Angeles campus.
- USA Today has recognized Antioch University as one of the top 20 colleges most committed to community service: “With five campuses spread across the United States, Antioch University... provides participants with projects in the local community, around the country, and throughout the world.”