Santa Monica College Ranks First in UC Transfers for 27th Straight Year

By Jorge Casuso

December 17, 2017 -- Santa Monica College (SMC) led all community colleges in transfers to the University of California (UC) system during the past school year and placed the most black and Latino students in statewide universities, college officials announced last week.

It marked the 27th straight year SMC earns the top spot, with a total of 1,194 students transferring to schools in the UC system, an all-time high, officials said.

By comparison, the second and third-ranked feeder schools transferred 940 and 890 students.

SMC also sent 1,081 students to the California State University (CSU) system, officials said.

Of SMC's transfer students statewide, 183 were Latino (up from 166 the previous year) and 58 were black (up from 37), giving SMC more Latino and black transfer students than any other community college in the state.

“The success of our students is SMC’s top priority," said Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery, SMC Superintendent/President. "This most recent data is proof of how this institution invests heavily towards that end, through world-class professors, dedicated counselors, and a wide array of student support services.”

UCLA continued to be the most popular destination for SMC students, with 482 students transfering from the college, or 40 percent of all UC transfers, attending the Westwood campus.

UC Berkeley was second with 136 transfers, followed by UC San Diego with 175 and UC Irvine with 161.

In addition to sending the most students to UC schools, SMC ranked number one in transfers to USC and Loyola Marymount University, two of the premiere private universities in the state.

The 148 SMC transfers to USC last fall was nearly triple the 55 students that transferred from the second-highest-ranked feeder school.

Columbia University, one of the nation's eight Ivy League schools, accepted more transfers students from SMC than from any school west of the Mississippi, officials said.

SMC ranked second in the nation in the number of transfers to Columbia.

“SMC’s continued transfer success is a testament to our hardworking students, first of all, and also our highly skilled faculty and staff," said Janet Robinson, who heads SMC’s Transfer Center.

“Plus, it highlights the beauty of the partnership between SMC and California’s two public institutions and premier private universities,” she said.

SMC’s Transfer Center "organizes the largest college fair in the state, conducts workshops, holds weekly visits from four-year institutions, and also has a close working relationship with the UC and CSU systems to make sure SMC students get credit for their classes," officials said.

For more information on the academic and support services SMC offers transfer students, click here or call (310) 434-4210.