SMC Invites Community Input for New Malibu Campus

Santa Monica College Invites Community Input for New Malibu Campus Class Offerings & Facility Usage

College’s First Malibu Campus Expected to Open for Classes & Community Use Spring 2023, Online Survey Results to Help Create Tailored Programs

SANTA MONICA, CA—Santa Monica College (SMC) invites Malibu-area residents and businesses to take an online survey—available at smc.edu/malibusurvey—to help inform the college’s educational and program planning towards the opening of its new SMC  Malibu Campus, the first satellite campus in Malibu. The new campus is slated to open for community use in Spring 2023. Information on the survey will also be mailed to Malibu and Malibu-area addresses. 

Educational program options include credit classes leading to a degree or certificate; free noncredit and Emeritus classes for older adults and professionals; high school concurrent enrollment (to accrue credits towards four-year universities); and personal enrichment and professional development community education classes focused on the fine and performing arts, career training, and more. 

In addition to gauging interest on what kinds of educational programming would most meet the needs of the Malibu and Malibu-area communities, the survey will also assess interest in hosting community and group events at the campus and determine preferences for class timings.  

The SMC Malibu Campus is a two-story building that includes classrooms, science and computer labs, a lecture hall, an art studio, study space, an interpretive center, a multipurpose room, a conference room, offices, and 179 parking spaces. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will occupy a one-story wing of the building. The multipurpose room—also to be open to the Malibu community—will be shared by the Sheriff’s Department and SMC.  

The project employs various sustainability strategies, including low water consumption fixtures, the use of reclaimed water for irrigation, green building materials, and equipment commissioning. The project is anticipated to receive LEED Gold Certification. The estimated completion date for the construction is November 2022. SMC will continue its educational planning based on results of the survey and will further finalize its planning for the brand-new campus this fall. 

Potential areas of interest for credit classes include courses in arts and media, business, history and languages, education, health and wellness, people in society, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). 

Examples of free noncredit courses include those that work toward short-term certificates in sustainability, bike maintenance, working with older adults, and certification of instructional hours earned by au pairs. Under the umbrella of noncredit education, SMC’s widely praised Emeritus Program—founded by Santa Monica College in 1975 to serve the lifelong learning interests of older adults—offers more than 120 free noncredit adult education classes and special programs that serve more than 3,000 students each year. Emeritus coursework, designed for those in their 50s and above, includes those on such topics as drawing and painting, creative writing, life drawing studio, calligraphy, t’ai chi, fall prevention, Shakespeare, current events, music appreciation, and more.  

Community education classes, which are fee-based, include short-term classes on such topics as real estate pre-licensure classes, nonprofit board finance, street photography, voice acting, and much more, in addition to offering summer bootcamps for youth. 

For more information on the SMC Malibu Campus, visit smc.edu/Malibu.

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Santa Monica College’s new Malibu Campus as seen in an architectural rendering and recent construction photos. The college is inviting Malibu-area residents and businesses to take an online survey—available at smc.edu/malibusurvey—to help inform the college’s educational and program planning towards the opening of its first satellite campus in Malibu, slated for a Spring 2023 opening. Information on the survey will also be mailed to Malibu and Malibu-area addresses.

About Santa Monica College: 

Santa Monica College is a California Community College accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). For 31 consecutive years, SMC has been California’s leading transfer college to UCLA, UC Berkeley, and other University of California campuses. The college also tops in transfers to the University of Southern California and Loyola Marymount University and is the top feeder west of the Mississippi to the Ivy League Columbia University. More than 110 career training degrees and certificates at SMC—in fields ranging from the traditional (Accounting, Early Childhood Education, Nursing) to the emerging (Sustainable Technologies, Technical Theatre, and a baccalaureate degree in Interaction Design)—offer professional preparation for students interested in directly entering the job market, transferring to a four-year school, or upgrading specific skills. SMC provides news and cultural enrichment through its NPR radio station KCRW (89.9 FM), the Broad Stage at the SMC Performing Arts Center, and lifelong learning through distinctive programs such as its Emeritus Program for older adults.