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Former names | Santa Monica Junior College (1929–1945) Santa Monica City College (1945–1970) |
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| Motto |
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Motto in English |
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| Type | Publiccommunity college |
| Established | 1929; 97 years ago (1929) |
Academic affiliation | CCCS ACCJC |
| Budget | $559.2 million (2021–2022)[1] |
| President | Kathryn Jeffery |
Academic staff | 2,023 |
| Students | 39,097 (2024-2025 Annual)[2] |
| Location | , U.S. 34°01′00″N118°28′15″W / 34.0168°N 118.4707°W /34.0168; -118.4707 |
| Campus | Urban 38 acres (15 ha) |
| Newspaper | The Corsair |
| Colors | Blue and white |
| Nickname | Corsairs |
Sporting affiliations | CCCAA –WSC, SCFA (football) |
| Mascot | Pico the Corsair |
| Website | smc |
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Santa Monica College (SMC) is apubliccommunity college inSanta Monica, California. Founded as ajunior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. The college initially served pre-collegehigh school students, eventually expanding its enrollment to educate college-age andnon-traditional students with the intention to transfer to a four-year university. The college has high transfer rates to four-year universities such as theUniversity of California andCalifornia State University campuses, being a leader among state community colleges in transfers to the former.[3]
Santa Monica Junior College was established in September 1929 with seven faculty members and 153 students in classes held on the second floor ofSanta Monica High School. Attended primarily by high school students, it was originally part of theSanta Monica-Malibu Unified School District. Despite the ensuingWall Street Crash of 1929 andGreat Depression, the school's enrollment increased to 355 in 1930 and 600 in 1931. In 1932, the college moved to the vacant brickGarfield Elementary School building on Michigan Avenue. The building was declared unsafe following the1933 Long Beach earthquake and classes moved to tents and bungalows on the Garfield site, which students nicknamed Splinterville.
In 1940, following a number of failed attempts to relocate to a larger property, the school purchased 6.18 acres (2.50 ha) onPico Boulevard for $10,197. In 1945, the junior college changed its name toSanta Monica City College.[4] The Pico Boulevard and 17th Street campus opened on January 18, 1952, to 1,200 students. The college's firstbond measure was passed in 1946 for the construction ofCorsair Stadium, which began in 1946 and was completed in 1948. In 1969, the college secured its own governing board under the creation of the Santa Monica Junior College District. In 1970, the school changed its name from Santa Monica City College to Santa Monica College.[5][6]
Santa Monica College experienced a financial crisis in 1972 when the state of California changed theage of majority from 21 to 18. Since the state paid $40 more per unit of attendance of minors than adults, the change cut SMC's budget in half. Additionally, state funding for community college students in California went to the student's home district and not the college's district. SMC had a contract with the City of Los Angeles to finance students from Los Angeles but since one-third of SMC students were from districts outside of Los Angeles the city would lose even more funding. As a result, Los Angeles planned to cancel its financial compensation contract with SMC. The college consequently sent termination letters to all faculty and staff, effective September 1972. The crisis was halted on March 8, 1972, when theCalifornia State Senate passed a bill temporarily exempting community colleges from the financial effects of the change in the age of adulthood. On March 21, 1972, the college renegotiated its contract with the City of Los Angeles and rehired its faculty and staff.[7]
In 1980, the college built a new library and transformed the previous library building into the Letters and Science Building.
In 2012 Santa Monica College received national attention due to a controversial plan to create a two-tier system of education in which more "popular" courses would be offered at higher costs. Protests at a board meeting immediately following the plan's proposal led to several students being pepper sprayed. A report on the event resulted in an officer's dismissal. The report also faulted several members of the protest for provoking officers.[8] Some people exclaimed "We got pepper sprayed! We won" after the incident.[9]
On June 7, 2013, akilling spree occurred in Santa Monica that left a total of five people dead, including the gunman, and injured five others. The incident started several miles off-campus before the gunman traveled to SMC and entered the college's library, where he was later fatally shot by police. School officials put the campus onlockdown asLos Angeles Police Department officers, includingSWAT, cleared the campus. Local law enforcement stated that they did not view the incident as a "school shooting" because the incident started off-campus.[10]
The motive was inconclusive.[11]
On October 14, 2024, a shooting occurred at the Santa Monica College Center for Media and Design, where a custodial operations manager, Felicia Hudson, was critically injured. The incident took place just before 10:00 p.m., leading to her immediate hospitalization.[12] She succumbed to her injuries and died two days later, on October 16.[13] The shooting has been classified as a case of workplace violence, with the suspect identified as Davon Durell Dean, also an SMC employee. The motive was unclear.[14] After an extensive manhunt, Dean was found deceased in his vehicle in Hawthorne, having died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.[15] The college closed all campuses for the remainder of the week to prioritize safety and support for the community. Classes resumed and the campus reopened again on Monday, October 21.
The motive was unclear.[16]
Santa Monica College is the only college of the Santa Monica Community College District, a constituent community college district of theCalifornia Community Colleges System (CCCS). The district is governed by its seven-member board of trustees and its officers including the Superintendent/President.[17] The district territory includes Santa Monica andMalibu.
The trustees are elected at-large from registered voters within the district for four years. A student trustee also participates in board meetings as a non-voting member and is elected by the students for one year. The board appoints and supervises the superintendent/president and sets district policy.
The Superintendent of the Santa Monica Community College District/President of Santa Monica College has delegated authority to set rules and regulations for the district and Santa Monica College. The superintendent/president is accountable to the board, and all other officers are accountable to the superintendent/president.[18]
The board of trustees includes a student trustee in accordance with board policy BP 2015.[19] The student trustee is elected and removed in accordance with the constitution and by-laws of the Associated Students of Santa Monica College.[20]
SMC's main campus is located at 1900Pico Boulevard and is the college's largest location. The college operates six satellite campuses across Santa Monica and Malibu:
Santa Monica College isaccredited by theAccrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). It offers a variety of occupational certificate programs, including accounting, fashion design, office information systems, and the Academy of Entertainment Technology (which offers certificates in interactive media and animation). The college also offers logistics and supply chain programs at AAS and certificate level.[21] The Santa Monica College Arts Mentor Program provides certain students in the fine and applied arts with graduate-level training by professionals in their specialized fields.
Santa Monica College fields 18 sports, eight men's teams and competes as a member of theCalifornia Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) in theWestern State Conference (WSC) for all sports except football, which competes inSouthern California Football Association (SCFA).[22] The mascot for SMC is Pico the Corsair.[23] Pico the Corsair derives his name from Pico Boulevard, one of the four main streets which form the exterior perimeter of the campus. He sails on the ship the Lady Sixteen with his pet Pearl the Parrot while carrying his Sword of Silberkraus.[23][24] The Lady Sixteen and Pearl are named after 16th Street and Pearl Street respectively.
SMC fields both men's and women's teams inbasketball,cross country,soccer,swimming,track and field,volleyball, andwater polo. SMC fields men's teams infootball, and women'sbeach volleyball,softball, andtennis teams.
Santa Monica College football played undefeated seasons in 1958, 1966, 1980, and 2015.[citation needed]
Santa Monica College won the Junior Rose Bowl, the unofficial National Championship, in 1958 againstNortheastern Oklahoma A&M College on December 13, 1958.[25][26]
Santa Monica College football was the conference champion for the years 2011 and 2012.
Corsair Field (4,850) built in 1948, is home to football and track and field. The field was the starting point for both the men's and women'smarathon events for the1984 Summer Olympics held in neighboringLos Angeles.[27]
Corsair Pavilion (1,600) is home to men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams, as well as theHollywood Fame of theAmerican Basketball Association
The Santa Monica College men's volleyball team won thenational intercollegiate volleyball championship each year from 1961 to 1966, except for 1965, when it lost the title to UCLA.[28]
| Ethnic Breakdown | 2018[29] | 2015[30] |
|---|---|---|
| Hispanic and Latino American | 40% | 39% |
| Black | 9% | 9.2% |
| Asian American | 9% | 15.7% |
| Native Hawaiian or otherPacific Islander | 0% | N/A |
| White | 26% | 37.5% |
| Multiracial Americans | 5% | N/A |
| International students | 10% | 11.2% |
| Unknown | 1% | 7.4% |
| Female | 54% | N/A |
| Male | 46% | N/A |
In the fall of 2015, there were 33,964 students enrolled at SMC. Of these students:
The average age was 24.1 years.
Santa Monica College is the home ofKCRW (89.9 FM), apublic radio station, broadcasting throughout the Los Angeles and Orange County area with an estimated 450,000 listeners.[citation needed] The station is the broadcast home ofMorning Becomes Eclectic.
As part of its hands-on media curriculum, the college produces its own weekly, student-run newspaper (both in print, and online) calledThe Corsair. The newspaper began asThe SaMoJaC and was published every two weeks before being renamedThe Corsair in 1945. As part of the college's academic curriculum, publication ofThe Corsair also provides experience as a hands-on training vehicle for Southern Californiajournalism students.
SMC students have established a student body association named Associated Students of Santa Monica College (AS).[31][32] The association is required by law to "encourage students to participate in the governance of the college".[33] SMC's Associated Students is a member of theStudent Senate for California Community Colleges, a statewide community college student advocacy organization. The statewide Student Senate is authorized by law "to advocate before the Legislature and other state and local governmental entities".[34]
SMC students who pay the $19.50 Associated Students fee at registration have unlimited access to theBig Blue Bus lines across Santa Monica and its adjacent neighborhoods, including a line onLincoln Boulevard that accessesLos Angeles International Airport (LAX).
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