Declining Enrollment and Debt Leads to Layoffs at SMC

On February 3, Santa Monica College (SMC) board of trustees voted to approve laying off 57 classified employees. Classified employees are the lowest paid categories of employees at SMC, with the lowest in this group earning 50,000 dollars annually. Additionally, 9.5 [decimals equate to non-full time employees] vacant classified employee positions are set to be terminated. Furthermore, 3.8 managers and administrators are being laid off and four vacant management positions are being terminated.

In total 60.8 classified employees, management and administrators are set to be laid off and another 13.5 vacant positions will not be filled come the start of the 2026-2027 fiscal year.

Based on reports done in Feb 2026, SMC is set to declare bankruptcy in the 2026-2027 fiscal year. This decision is in large part due to the school’s 16.5 million dollar debt.

SMC has faced accusations of poor money management by the SMC Faculty Association and others. The college’s fund balance has fallen from 43.9 million dollars in 2021-2022, to a projected 13.1 million dollars by the end of 2025-2026. That number is well below the recommended 17 percent reserve level according to The SMC Faculty Association. The school has been accused by the SMC Faculty Association of incompetence and poor leadership in terms of the school’s board and how they spend their money. In Mar. 2023, the board at SMC approved a 7 percent raise to management, which amounts to 7-8 million dollars. This decision took place when the school was facing structural deficits.

The school then had to lay off employees in order to help the school out of its financial hole. An anonymous employee at the school has speculated on these decisions as being haphazard and not very thought out. The employee gave their thoughts on this topic.

“If the board hadn’t given that 7 percent increase, then far fewer people would have had to be laid off. This was another misstep on the board’s part,” the classified employee said.

SMC President Kathryn E. Jeffrey, communicated her thoughts on the layoffs in a letter to the school community.

“This decision weighs heavily on me,” Jeffery said. “They represent real people, colleagues who have dedicated themselves to our students and our mission.”

In spite of Jeffrey’s feelings in her letter, this decision and others have caused a great deal of distrust and backlash towards the SMC board.

“The CFO for years has been saying that we are going to be in trouble, and the senior administration doesn’t take the necessary steps to curb this, they bear the responsibility. There have been senior staff retirements since this,” the employee said.

The Samohi reached out to the secretary of the board of trustees, and the office of the president Kathryn E. Jeffrey for comment, but received no response.

The schools’ plan for addressing the debt is by implementing cost-cutting measures such as layoffs, salary reductions and furloughs.

SMC’s declining enrollment has also been a contributing factor in the schoolwide loss of revenue. According to a report filed by SMC annually, the total student population is down 3.28 percent since last fall. The school simultaneously has lost state funding which is afforded on the basis of student population. In the bigger picture, since 2019 the student body has dropped by over 14 percent, from around 19,000 full time students to approximately 17,000 students. Some of these students who have left or did not come are students on F1 visas.

The F1 visa is a temporary visa which allows international students to study at SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Program) certified schools in the United States. SMC is an SEVP certified school which means they allow international students to enroll. For SMC specifically students must meet requirements for documents, essays, and passports and then they are issued an I20 form. Once a student has acquired an I20 form, they then schedule a F1 visa appointment. The F1 visa has a specified amount of time in which a student can study in the US. According to the SMC board of trustees in published meeting notes from Oct. 2025, students applying for F1 visas have faced increased scrutiny, longer wait times for appointments and increased visa denials.

A second factor for declining enrollment has been international students and their families’ anxiety or fear about the government’s tolerance for international students.

“There has been a lot of sentiment, and a lot of parents of international students who are fearful of sending their kids over to the United States largely because people have a sense that America is hostile towards them,” the SMC classified employee said.

Declining enrollment has also been influenced by this current administration’s travel bans. In June. 5, 2025, President Trump issued a travel ban on Myanmar. Myanmar has the fourth highest enrollment of international students as of 2025 with 116 students who go to SMC. In 2025, 55 students from Myanmar applied and there is currently no new enrollment from Myanmar due to the travel ban.

According to the SMC website, the school has more than 3,000 international students, from 110 different countries. A standard tuition for students studying on F1 visas at SMC is 11,232 dollars for the 2026 school year. Standard tuition for a California student is 1,300 dollars which is approximately eight times less than an international student.

According to SMC’s official website, non-resident students are down 7.61 percent from last fall, as of Oct. 2025. This decrease in international students is a colossal loss of revenue for the school. This loss amounts to over 2.5 million dollars in income.

These recent events have impacted the culture within the school system and employees according to the SMC employee.

“The culture at SMC is one of distrust. Classified staff and the union have major distrust issues with the board and management and senior staff. All of these groups have a lot of distrust and mistrust for each other.” the employee said.

This situation has implications for not just current employees, but students at SMC and those considering attending in the future. A current Samo student, Brooklyn Todd (’26) gave his thoughts on SMC and how it affects his plans on going to college.

“This affected me a lot, because I was planning on going to SMC to play basketball, but due to the situation with the school, I’ll definitely be looking for other options. I think it is a huge change in my career and education,” Todd said.

On Mar. 3, there is an SMC board meeting in the Business Building 117, with a closed session of labor negotiations, followed by an open forum where all members of the SMC community can make public comments to the board.

By Mar. 15 the total number of employees, managers and administrators who will be laid off from SMC will be finalized.