MALIBU—Santa Monica College’s satellite campus located on 23555 Civic Center Way, in Malibu, is slated to open this month. 

This three acre campus is the college’s first in Malibu. It will offer a 100-seat lecture hall with sloped seating for music and film, an art studio, open floor spaces for dance and yoga, general classrooms, a conference room, a community room, outdoor study spaces, and a two-story educational building with dedicated science and computer labs. 

Four types of classes will be offered at this campus which will include:

Classes for credit that can be used toward an Associate degree or transfer to a four-year college or university

Short-term vocational and workforce preparation courses and certificates

Free noncredit and adult education courses specifically oriented to the interests of older adults

Low-cost classes, seminars, and workshops

Alice Meyering, who is the Assistant Dean at the campus, told Canyon News in an email that all the faculty members who are featured in the school’s catalogue are seasoned instructors of Santa Monica College. 

The school’s staff are working actively with Malibu High School to survey classes and subjects that students might be interested in. “We are here to provide the kind of classes and learning experience MHS students want and need,” Meyering said. 

This $65 million project that took about four years to complete was funded by two voter-supported measures: Measure S which was passed in 2004 and Measure V which was passed in 2016.

The school’s Spring semester will begin Febrary 13. Currently, about 150 students are enrolled.

“This is a campus built in Malibu, for Malibu,” Meyering shared, “In the next few years, we expecte to see greater community involvement to make this campus the heart of community activities in Malibu, besides its main purpose, as a Santa Monica College satellite campus for classes. So far, we have received nothing less than total exuberance from everyone who has walked through our door, be it student, instructor, or community members. We believe the support of the community, as well as the academic excellence of the College, will be the force behind this campus’ growth in the foreseeable future. This is a place where people come together to do great things.”