Santa Monica College
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Santa Monica College is a two-year public community college located in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California.
Santa Monica College was first opened in 1929. Current enrollment is 25,000 students in more than 80 fields of study. The college also has one of the largest international student populations of any community college in the US, with approximately 2,600 from more than 100 countries.
Santa Monica College has a well-regarded academic reputation, and is a popular choice for students to complete lower-division college requirements for oft-times overcrowded universities: it is ranked #1 among the California's community colleges in transferring students to the University of California, and is one of the leaders for the University of Southern California, and other four-year campuses. Transfer courses are offered in such fields as business administration, journalism, broadcasting, fine arts, health sciences, and the liberal arts.
Santa Monica College also offers a variety of occupational certificate programs, including Accounting, Fashion Design, Office Information Systems, and its Academy of Entertainment Technology (which offers certificates in Interactive Media and in Animation).
Santa Monica College is also the home of KCRW (89.9 FM), a leading public radio station in the US which broadcasts throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties to an estimated 450,000 listeners. The station is the broadcast home of Morning Becomes Eclectic and Harry Shearer's Le Show.
Famous alumni
- Isaac Bruce, Professional NFL (football) player
- Walter Cunningham, Astronaut (A.S. 1958) (B.S. 1960 at the University of California, Los Angeles)
- James Dean, Actor
- Dustin Hoffman, Actor
- Rickie Lee Jones, Musician
- Lenny Krayzelburg, Swimmer (A.A. 1996) (B.A. 1998 at the University of Southern California)
- Nathan Myhrvold, former Microsoft chief technology officer
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, 38th Governor of California (A.A. 1977) (B.A. 1979 at the University of Wisconsin-Superior). Schwarzenegger gave the commencement address in 2005.
- Gloria Stuart, actress