Not Clearly Pro or Con: "At approximately $48 per unit for in state residents, I believe the price of an education at Santa Monica College is reasonable. Students who are low income and meet certain income criteria, the Board of Governors has establish a fee waiver system that allows qualified students to pay a small one time administration fee and they can received their classes at no charge.

However the cost of books, supplies and housing can be very expense. Sometimes books and supplies can be more expensive than the tuition. Housing for our out-of-state/city and international students is scarce and expense. Students look for housing outside of Santa Monica/Malibu and have to travel some distance to attend classes."

Pro: "Yes Santa Monica College should offer 4 year programs in vocational occupations where an Associate of Arts degree had been acceptable in the past. These fields and occupations could include dental hygiene, industrial technology, allied health technology, data management for health care and emergency medical technicians. Yesterday Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 850 into law which authorizes the community college bachelor’s degree option. This law directs the California Community College system to establish a pilot baccalaureate degree program in 15 college districts by no later than the 2017-2018 academic year.

Giving students access to an affordable education that can enable them to obtain well-paying jobs only helps our work force to be more productive and helps meets the demands for these types of careers."

Pro: "Santa Monica College offers 37 Career Technical Education (CTE) related Associates Degrees and Department Certificate Programs and 37 Certificates of Achievements. Each year SMC is constantly responding to workforce needs as they arise and is flexible in creating new programs to train students."

Con: "Any local student that wants to attend SMC can do so. The College has an amazing counseling program that can help local students identify their course of interest and assist them in obtaining the necessary financial support to pay for their tuition "Santa Monica College and Santa Monica –Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) in 2008 established a program call The Young Collegian. The goal of the program is to support those high school students, whose parents never attended college by having them to participate in SMC courses during the summer until they graduate from high school. In addition to the Young Collegians Program, SMC has a program call the Pico Promise which also works with students who live the Pico neighborhood to introduce them to the college experience.

I believe that it is important for SMC to keep a strong relationship with SMMUSD and its students and we should continue to find ways to support and encourage students to look beyond high school for their educational pursuit."

Pro: "Santa Monica College offers an excellent quality education. SMC is #1 in transfers to UC for 25 years. It has the best students to counselor ratio in the state. The faculty is comprised with professors that have many years of experience. It is the only community college in the state that has an Emeritus College to serve its older adults."

Not Clearly Pro or Con: "I believe that SMC should continue to provide to its students and residents an environment on its campus that is welcoming and inviting. A place where students can learn and the community can use as needed. I am very excited about the campus center that is in the process of being built in Malibu. It will allow our residents in Malibu the opportunity to take courses without having to drive into Santa Monica.

Any expansion of facilities should only happen if and when the College goes through a transparent process that would engage the residents of Santa Monica and Malibu."