Exciting news for the Malibu community! Santa Monica College's Malibu Campus has finally opened, offering a range of educational opportunities for traditional and non-traditional students alike. The Malibu campus has been up and running for a month now and has already welcomed 450 students across four different educational models. And the best part? All courses offered at the Malibu campus are in person!
The Malibu campus offers noncredit classes for career advancement and emeritus enrichment classes for older adults, in addition to credit-bearing courses. This means there's something for everyone in Malibu, regardless of your age or background. Meyering, associate dean of the campus, highlighted that while general education requirements like elementary statistics and reading composition are among the most popular courses, electives and enrichment classes are also popular, including general psychology, film appreciation, and both beginners and intermediate salsa dance.
Community building is crucial for the Malibu campus, and Santa Monica College hopes to add more to the Malibu community. Meyering stated that "Our hope is with a little more time, we will be able to provide meaningful public programming that everyone can enjoy and appreciate." Meyering and her team have been busy forging partnerships with local nonprofits, public schools, Pepperdine University, businesses, and the Malibu Library to help achieve this goal.
The Malibu campus also houses a LA County Sheriff Substation in a one-story wing of the campus, the first to be located within Malibu City limits since the early 1990s. Parts of the campus are also designed to serve as an operations center if necessary. The campus includes a two-story educational building with an art studio space, a science classroom, two general education classrooms, a multi-purpose physical activity space, a 100-seat lecture hall, and a computer lab. An open house will be held on April 22 from 12:30-2:30 p.m., and the building will host the Malibu State of the City address on May 3.