This article is a submission by Santa Monica College.
According to 2023-2024 data released by the University of California (UC) Information Center, Santa Monica College (SMC) transferred more students to the UC system than any other California community college—for 34 consecutive years now.
SMC sent 983 students to UC campuses in the prior academic year. Additionally, the college maintained its no.1 spot for African American and Latinx transfers to the UC; it continues to remain the leading transfer college to the University of Southern California (USC) and Loyola Marymount University (LMU). The college is also the top feeder west of the Mississippi to the Ivy League Columbia University.
A few highlights from SMC’s 2023-2024 transfer numbers include:
- Among the 983 Santa Monica College-to-UC transfers were 217 Latinx/Chicanx students and 84 African American students. UCLA continued to be the most popular destination for SMC transfer students, with 451 SMC-to-UC transfers headed to the Westwood campus, followed by UC Berkeley (133 transfers).
- SMC also had more students enrolled at USC and Loyola Marymount University than any other community college, with 129 and 358 respectively of admitted SMC transfers making the decision to enroll.
- SMC ranked fourth in total combined transfers to the UC and California State University (CSU) systems—2,054 students.
- The college maintained its record as a top feeder to the Ivy League Columbia University.SMC sent more transfer students to Columbia than any other community college west of the Mississippi with 25 SMC students (out of those admitted) enrolled at the Ivy League institution in fall 2024.
“Each year, we eagerly await these statistics,” said SMC Superintendent/President Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery. “Once again, we celebrate Santa Monica College’s longstanding record of excellence in transfers. Congratulations to all the students who made the transition to a four-year institution this past academic year, and thank you to each member of the college community who had a hand in guiding and mentoring them!”
The college’s Transfer Center Faculty Leader Dr. Janet Robinson echoed Jeffery’s note of gratitude and acknowledged the collaboration that makes the transfer success possible. “The SMC campus community continues to come together, year-round, in various ways to support students whose goal is to transfer. The transfer process can be both exciting and overwhelming, so resources and activities are provided in various modalities and settings—involving many individuals behind the scenes—to educate our students about transfer options, and to help demystify the process.
Among many such activities, the SMC Transfer Center hosted a Fall College Fair in Oct. 2024 with 173 four-year institutions in attendance as well as several events highlighting the transfer process to Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) across the U.S.
Transferpalooza 2024—an annual SMC event where students can receive personalized feedback on their transfer applications and personal statements before submission—saw faculty, staff, and managers from 23 different SMC departments making 800 contacts with students over the last week of November. The event was supported by SMC Associated Students, who provided refreshments and fun activities for participants.
The Transfer Admission Guarantees (TAGs) offered at SMC provide guaranteed admission for students who meet specific requirements to several universities including six University of California campuses, Loyola Marymount University, Arizona State University (ASU), and many HBCUs, among others.
The Scholars Program is a distinctive academic community within the larger SMC community whose aim is to prepare students—particularly freshman, first-generation college students, students from underserved schools and communities, and non-traditional students—for transfer to the colleges and universities of their choice. The program’s focus is on academic preparation and study for university-level work through writing, exposure to research, critical thinking, and analysis, along with intensive counseling and support.
Through special transfer agreements with top four-year colleges and universities, Scholars students get priority consideration for admissions to the following campuses: The UCLA College, the Luskin Public Affairs major and the Education and Social Transformation major (TAP), UC Irvine, Loyola Marymount University, Chapman University, University of San Francisco, and Pomona College, to name a few. TAP certified students represented 31% of SMC’s total admits to UCLA.
For more information about SMC’s Transfer Center and its services, please visit smc.edu/transfer or email Robinson_Janet@smc.edu.
