It is a leader among the state's 108 community colleges in transferring students to the University of California, USC and Loyola Marymount.

SMC is also a major job training center in such fields as nursing, computer technology, new media, accounting, photography and graphic design.

Rolling Stone magazine has named SMC among “Ten of the Best” community colleges in the nation.

Santa Monica College has no academic admission requirements, and with its low tuition ($26 a unit for most students), provides a higher education opportunity to thousands of economically deprived people who might not otherwise have it.

• The college's Academy of Entertainment & Technology, a groundbreaking program to train students in digital animation and new media, opened in fall 1997.

• The SMC Women's College is the only public, two-year institution of its kind in the nation.

• SMC's KCRW (89.9 FM) is the award winning and eclectic public radio station that serves as the flagship for National Public Radio.

• SMC's Scholars Program for honors students guarantees priority admission to UCLA and other four-year campuses.

• SMC's Emeritus College for older adults, which offers a wide variety of free classes, is one of the largest programs of its kind in the nation.

• The college's Office of Workforce & Economic Development provides customized workforce training, job placement, business consultation and other services to the Los Angeles area public and private sectors.

• Voters in the Santa Monica Community College District passed a $160 million facilities bond measure in March 2002 and a $135 million bond in November 2004.

• SMC has one of the largest international student populations of any community college in the nation, with 2,300 from more than 100 nations.