by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students will not be asked to pay the full sticker price of a school. Rather, they are offered a financial aid plan that includes a mix of loans, grants, scholarships, and possibly work-study opportunities. The sum total of attendance at Santa Monica College can sound overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students get some type of financial aid.
Just what financial assistance solutions will SMC provide, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Read on for answers. Keep going to see how much school funding could be available to you.
Eligibility for aid and scholarships is driven mostly by your household’s income and need. Use the information below to understand how much financial assistance you may get from Santa Monica College.
Financial assistance, available as scholarships, loans, and work-study, is a way schools lower the price of attendance so many students can enroll. Bear in mind that not all aid is equal, and the amount any one student receives can vary widely.
Among first-time, full-time freshmen at Santa Monica College, 65% of the incoming full-time class was awarded financial aid roughly 2100 incoming students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 64% | $5,540 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 0% | $1,083 |
| Federal Pell grants | 39% | $5,434 |
| State/local grants | 63% | $2,210 |
| Federal student loans | 2% | $5,884 |
Gift aid — grants and scholarships — beats loans every time because none of it has to be repaid. Across the undergraduate body at SMC, some 52% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $4,114 (covering around 12135 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 52% | $4,114 |
| Federal Pell grants | 26% | $4,694 |
| Federal student loans | 3% | $7,144 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $8,383.
The figures below show the average net price — cost after all grant and scholarship aid — broken out by family income.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $3,081 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $4,419 |
| Over $75,000 | $7,794 |
The numbers above are post-aid net prices, so they already account for grants and scholarships.
The net price strips out grant and scholarship aid from the sticker price to show roughly what families really pay.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $2,779 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $3,600 |
For a customized cost estimate, visit SMC’s net price tool: misweb.cccco.edu/npc/781/npcalc.htm.
A typical borrower at SMC leaves with $6,500 in federal loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $6,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $6,450 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $68.38/mo |
At a typical 10-year repayment schedule, the median graduate would pay about the monthly figure above.
A single median figure conceals how much debt outcomes differ student to student. The percentiles below describe the cumulative federal debt distribution for borrowers at SMC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $6,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $11,000 |
Outcomes differ by income bracket, by first-generation status, and by whether a student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,750 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $6,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,750 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $8,000 |
The Department of Education computes summary indicators that describe debt outcomes at a glance. SMC.
Stafford loans make up the bulk of federal direct lending to undergraduates. The annual Stafford volume below reflects program activity at SMC:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 6017 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $46,735,212 |
The GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the main federal aid routes for veterans and service members.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 0 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $0 |
DoD Tuition Assistance activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 0 |
| Total DoD amount | $0 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.