Located in Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica College (SMC) is a public community college. Established in 1929 as a junior college, Santa Monica College has a student body of over 30,000 across more than 90 fields of study. Initially focused on high school students, Santa Monica College soon broadened its enrollment to include college-age and non-traditional students aiming to transfer to a four-year university. Santa Monica College boasts impressive transfer rates to prestigious four-year universities like the Universities of California or California State Universities. Established in September 1929, Santa Monica College had 7 faculty members and 153 students attending classes on the second floor of Santa Monica High School. Primarily frequented by high school students, it was initially a component of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. Even with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed, the school’s enrollment grew to 355 in 1930 and 600 in 1931. In 1932, the college relocated to the empty brick Garfield Elementary School building on Michigan Avenue. After the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, the building was deemed unsafe, and classes were relocated to tents and bungalows on the Garfield site, affectionately dubbed Splinterville by students. In 1940, after several unsuccessful tries to move to a bigger property, the school bought 6.18 acres on Pico Boulevard for $10,197. In 1945, the junior college was renamed Santa Monica City College. The campus at Pico Boulevard and 17th Street welcomed 1,200 students on January 18, 1952. The college’s initial bond measure was approved in 1946 to fund the construction of Corsair Stadium, which commenced in the same year and was finished in 1948. Back in 1969, the college established its own governing board when the Santa Monica Junior College District was formed. In 1970, the institution updated its name from Santa Monica City College to Santa Monica College. Spanning the entire Santa Monica Community College District, SMC stands as the sole public institution of higher education in Santa Monica. The primary campus, situated on Pico Boulevard, stands as the college’s most extensive site. The college has five satellite campuses spread across Santa Monica.