California's top UC transfer feeder for 35 consecutive years, with $1,156 resident tuition and open enrollment.
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica College is a public community college in Santa Monica, California, founded in 1929. It enrolls approximately 28,000 students in credit programs and serves tens of thousands more through noncredit and community education offerings. The college is an open-enrollment institution: any California resident who is 18 or older, or who has graduated from high school, may attend. Programs span associate degrees, certificates, and transfer preparation across liberal arts, business, health sciences, technology, and the performing arts. Santa Monica College holds accreditation through the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).
Official website: smc.edu
UCD scores every college on four pillars: Outcomes, Value, Affordability, and Selectivity. Within peer group B (two-year and open-enrollment institutions), Santa Monica College scores 70.38 overall, rated Good. Value scores 98.11, among the highest in the peer group, reflecting the combination of extremely low resident tuition and a UC transfer pipeline that is unmatched among California community colleges.
Affordability scores 60.33. Outcomes scores 25.08, which reflects the structural reality of open-enrollment community colleges: completion rates are compared across a population that includes students who enroll part-time, stop out, transfer without completing an associate degree, or return after years away. All scores use verified federal data only.
Santa Monica College is open enrollment. There is no application score, no GPA requirement, and no essay for general admission to credit programs. Any California resident who is 18 years of age or older, or who holds a high school diploma or GED, may enroll.
Some certificate and career technical programs have prerequisite course requirements or program-specific application processes. High school students may also enroll through the dual enrollment program with counselor approval. Enrollment is managed on a first-come, first-served basis for course sections; applying and completing placement early in the cycle improves course access.
Santa Monica College charges $46 per credit unit for California residents, with a full-time load of 15 units costing approximately $690 per semester and an estimated annual tuition of $1,156. Non-resident students pay significantly more: out-of-state tuition is approximately $9,000 per year. The average net price after all grants and fee waivers is $8,481 per year when factoring in living expenses for students who do not live at home.
The California College Promise Grant (formerly the Board of Governors Fee Waiver) waives enrollment fees entirely for eligible low-income residents. Federal Pell grants and Cal Grant funds can cover remaining costs for eligible students, making SMC effectively free for many California residents who qualify.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
Santa Monica College's headline metric is UC transfer volume, not degree completion rates. The college has sent more students to the University of California system than any other community college in California for 35 consecutive years. In a recent year, 995 students transferred to the UC system, including 437 to UCLA and 133 to UC Berkeley.
The Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) program provides guaranteed admission to six UC campuses for students who meet the program's GPA and coursework requirements. The six-year completion rate, as reported to federal databases, is 36.27% for first-time, full-time students. This figure undercounts outcomes because it excludes students who transfer to four-year institutions without first completing an associate degree, which is the stated goal for a large share of the student body.
Median earnings for former Santa Monica College students are $36,009 six years after first enrolling and $42,193 at ten years. These figures include all former students regardless of whether they transferred, completed a degree, or enrolled for a single semester.
For students who used SMC as a transfer pathway, actual earnings depend on the four-year institution attended and the degree completed after transfer, neither of which is captured in the two-year institution earnings data. Students who transferred to UCLA or UC Berkeley, for example, appear in those institutions' earnings data rather than SMC's.
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
Share of completer-cohort borrowers paying down at least $1 of principal at the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year mark. Climbing rates show graduates settling into careers and managing debt; flat or declining rates are a warning.
Santa Monica College enrolls approximately 28,000 students in credit programs, with a demographic profile that reflects both the local Santa Monica community and transfer-seeking students from across Los Angeles County. Hispanic students account for approximately 34% of enrollment; white students 28%, Asian 16%, and Black 6%. Fifty-six percent of students are enrolled part-time, reflecting the large share who work while attending. Approximately 50.15% of students are first-generation college students, and 33% receive Pell grants. The college serves a substantial international student population, particularly in English as a Second Language and academic preparation programs.
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
Where students live, learn, and connect at Santa Monica College. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
Santa Monica College offers an extensive catalog of programs: 62 distinct programs across 24 majors. Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings. Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
Santa Monica College operates at a 26:1 student-to-faculty ratio. Class sizes in transfer-track courses typically range from 25 to 35 students, with lab sections and tutoring centers providing additional support. Instructional spending per full-time equivalent student is approximately $7,200 per year. The college employs both full-time tenure-track faculty and adjunct instructors. SMC operates tutoring centers, writing labs, and transfer counseling offices specifically to support students navigating the community college to university pathway.
349 instructional faculty across 1 ranks. The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
| Rank | Faculty Count | Share | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instructors | 349 | 100% | $123,591 |
Santa Monica College's dominant strength is its UC transfer record: no community college in California has sent more students to the UC system for 35 consecutive years, and the TAG program offers guaranteed UC admission for students who meet the requirements. Resident tuition of $1,156 per year makes it among the most affordable entry points to a UC-caliber education in the country.
The challenge is execution: about half of students who begin at SMC with transfer intent do not complete the transfer within six years, and success depends heavily on early engagement with a counselor to build a transfer-ready course plan. Best fit for California residents who want a two-year start toward a UC or CSU degree, who need maximum cost savings in the first two years, or who are returning to education after time away.
The questions below address what students and families most commonly search about Santa Monica College: how the UC transfer process works, what the TAG program is, what the true cost is after aid, and how to read completion rates at a community college. Transfer is the defining story of SMC; most of the important facts about attending center on that pathway.
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