Santa Monica College to cut 70 jobs amid $16.7 million budget shortfall

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Santa Monica College (SMC) will eliminate approximately 70 positions as it grapples with a projected $16.7 million budget deficit that threatens to exhaust its financial reserves by the 2026-27 academic year.

The staff and management job cuts are the latest effort to address a structural deficit that has rapidly depleted the college's savings. Financial reserves have plummeted from $43.9 million in the 2021-22 school year to an estimated $13.1 million by the end of the current fiscal year.

College officials attributed the crisis to several compounding factors, including a 13% decline in student enrollment since 2018-19. Changes to state funding formulas and the expiration of federal pandemic-era relief funds have further strained the budget.

Rising operating expenses, particularly for salaries, benefits, and utilities, have also contributed to the shortfall. Additionally, tuition revenue from non-resident students remains significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels.

The layoffs at Santa Monica College (SMC) are not an isolated administrative failure but a bellwether for a systemic fiscal crisis gripping California’s community college system. The current financial strain underscores a harsh post-pandemic reality where temporary federal cushions have evaporated, leaving deep-seated structural vulnerabilities exposed.

The crisis is rooted in a fundamental shift in the state’s funding mechanism enacted during the 2018-19 cycle. For years, many districts were shielded by "hold harmless" provisions that guaranteed baseline budget levels. With those protections now expiring, these institutions find themselves excluded from annual Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA). This has effectively frozen state support at a time when operational overhead—primarily driven by escalating payroll and insurance premiums—continues to surge. The predicament is widespread, currently ensnaring 51 of the state’s 73 community college districts.

Furthermore, the infusion of federal pandemic relief funds acted as a temporary sedative rather than a cure, masking structural deficits that predated the health crisis. As this one-time capital is exhausted, underlying budget gaps have been laid bare. This fiscal instability is being further exacerbated by a sustained decline in enrollment among both domestic and out-of-state students, drying up a critical revenue stream.

This convergence of frozen state aid and declining enrollment signals a period of protracted austerity for California’s public higher education. Without a significant policy intervention, the inevitable reduction in academic programming and student support services will likely erode the quality and accessibility of the system at large.

Community colleges like Santa Monica College serve as a vital gateway for first-generation Vietnamese Americans and immigrant families, providing an affordable path to higher education and vocational training. For many in our community—whether they are balancing school with shifts at a family phở restaurant or looking to transition from the nail salon industry into new professional fields—these institutions are essential for upward mobility. Reductions in staffing, fewer course offerings, and limited student support services threaten to close these doors, making it significantly harder for our community members to gain new skills or successfully transfer to four-year universities.