Founded in 1909, Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is the oldest of California’s 113 community colleges. It is located in the Santa Barbara Mesa on a 74-acre bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The college serves all of Santa Barbara County as well as many others who are attracted to the beautiful setting of the California coast.
SBCC is a fully accredited community college that offers over eighty degrees and over fifty career technical programs, training in a wide range of career technical fields, and transfer programs that provide the first two years of study toward the baccalaureate degree. Over 30,000 students attend SBCC in some capacity. Of those, more than 28% are full-time students. Each year over 2000 students earn a degree, nearly 1500 are awarded a certificate, and close to 3500 transfer to a four-year institution. Two out of every three full-time students who begin at SBCC graduate within three years, a rate well over the national average.
The school’s Transfer Admission Guarantee partners with seven University of California campuses, California State University Channel Islands, and one private/independent college. And its Transfer Academy provides comprehensive support services to empower, inform, and educate students seeking to transfer to one of these or many other four-year institutions.
The student body is as diverse as the degree programs offered. Over a third of SBCC’s students are Hispanic, over half are female, and nearly a third are over the age of 25.