Santa Monica News
SMC Announces Winter Session
By Michael Lambrose
Nov 21, 2012 - 10:03:34 AM

SANTA MONICA— Santa Monica College announced earlier this week that the school will be holding the six-week 2012/2013 winter session despite earlier prospects that due to a lack of funding the session would be cut. SMC cites several factors that lead administrators to decide to hold a winter session. 

The passing of Proposition 30, an improving state economy and the participation of private donors has provided school administrators at least enough confidence to hold the six week session. The student government organization Associated Students of Santa Monica are also donating nearly $200,000 of its own reserves to further fund classes.

This announcement comes just over a month after the Santa Monica Board of Trustees voted to cancel the session due to budget cuts, fee increases and reductions in courses offered.

SMC expects that the new funding will allow the school to provide 250 classes during the session. School officials are predicting that these classes will help over 10,000 students continue their progress towards higher education. Furthermore, they contend that by holding the session, Veterans will be able to still claim GI Bill benefits over the winter. This is because portions of the GI Bill are only payable when the individual is enrolled in classes.