Santa Monica College maintains its hold as California’s number one community college in transferring students to the prestigious University of California system, for the 24th year in a row.
This finding came from recent 2013-14 transfer data released by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office.
SMC came second in transfers to the UC and the California State University systems combined.
Another category in which SMC showed up as number one was in the number of African-American and Latino students transferred to UC. The college sent significantly more African-American students – 51 – a large leap compared to 31 from the previous year.
Dan Nannini, SMC Transfer Center Faculty Leader attributed this record growth to SMC’s Black Collegians program, which provides counseling and support services to students of African descent.
“The Black Collegians program in the African-American Collegiate Center supports their students with excellent counseling, tutoring and a variety of academic and social programs to help students meet their goals, one of which is attending the University of California,” said Nannini.
In 2013-14, SMC transferred a total of 1,061 students to UC, maintaining its hold as the number one transfer institution – by far outranking the number two and number three UC feeder schools, which transferred 756 and 741 students, respectively.
Other statistics for 2013-14 illustrate why Santa Monica College is considered California’s premier transfer institution:
— Santa Monica College maintained its hold on first place in transfers to the University of Southern California, from 160 students in fall 2013 to 191 in fall 2014 (USC reports transfers only for the fall). SMC transferred over 70 percent more than the next highest-ranking transfer institution to USC, which had 56.
— SMC also maintained its ranking as the top feeder for transfers to Loyola Marymount University.
— SMC Latino student transfers to UC campuses increased to 150 from 141 in 2012-13.
— SMC came in a close second for transfers to the UC and CSU systems combined, with 2,083 students as compared to the top feeder, which transferred 2,152 students.
“Santa Monica College continues to demonstrate through the years our commitment to transfer – but we are working continuously to provide even more pathways for students into four year universities,” said SMC President Dr. Chui L. Tsang. “We strive to do this in a way that will close the achievement gap for many of our students.”
“SMC’s commitment to counseling and student services is second to none,” says Nannini. “We offer the courses student need to be successful, and our faculty keeps the bar high so that students succeed after transfer.” Among other reasons for SMC’s strong transfer reputation, Nannini cited the recruiting of good students and keeping SMC’s transfer reputation in the spotlight.
Nannini also pointed out that SMC’s Transfer Center hosts the largest college fair in the state. This fall, representatives from 160 colleges and universities worldwide came to the SMC Transfer Fair to recruit students.
SMC’s Transfer Center also conducts workshops, holds weekly visits from four-year institutions, and has a close working relationship with UC and CSU to make sure SMC students get credit for their classes.
UCLA continues to be by far the most popular destination for SMC students, with nearly 42 percent of the UC transfers – 444 – going to the Westwood campus. San Diego came in second with 156 transfers, followed by the Berkeley and Irvine campuses.
SMC also transfers students to public and private universities throughout the world, including Stanford, Columbia and Cornell.
