Media Arts and Technology is officially a Graduate Program at UCSB. For the record, here are the official definitions of "program" and "department" at UCSB:
- A program is an academic unit that usually offers at least one interdisciplinary degree program. It is headed by a chair and has permanent faculty. The interdisciplinary area of study offered by a program is of a more established nature than that of an interdisciplinary group.
- A department is an academic unit that typically offers baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degree programs, headed by a chair. A department typically represents a field of knowledge that is well established.
Organizationally, there is very little difference between the two. Like a department, MAT has its own faculty, it has a chair and vice-chair, it offers degrees, etc. Unlike most departments, MAT offers only graduate degrees, and it is fundamentally interdisciplinary. Additionally, MAT resides in two colleges: the College of Engineering and the College of Letters and Science. A master's degree may be earned in each of the three areas of emphasis according to two plans: by thesis or by project.