[2]: 9–11  The typical target for students graduating from the junior college was either Berkeley or Stanford; although the junior college was "in a valley between two mountains of conceit—Stanford and the University of California" as described by early faculty, the curriculum at San Mateo was designed to allow graduating students to continue studies at the larger four-year institutions.

Sophomore students would stop first-years so they could "frequently and strenuously [apply the paddle] for any of a dozen real or imagined infractions.

"[2]: 21–22  Hazing culminated in an all-day event held semi-annually called The Brawl, which was filmed by Fox Movietone News on February 19, 1928.

[2]: 47–49 Dean Morris had a fatal heart attack in 1952, and students and faculty members began proposing a name change for SMJC.

An Adult Program was introduced in 1936 for evening classes at the Baldwin campus, and 500 students signed up by the end of the first week.

[2]: 40  During World War II, enrollment dropped as many potential students were serving in the military instead; SMJC shifted to teaching servicemen and radar courses.

The final report filed by the Committee concluded that San Mateo County needed more than one community college.

[2]: 8  One year after opening, San Mateo Junior College moved to the mansion built for Charles Polhemus and later purchased by William Kohl in what is now Central Park.

The Junior College soon outgrew the Kohl mansion, and temporary buildings (including tents) were erected in Central Park to hold classes.

Later that year, SMJC purchased 30 acres (12 ha) at North Delaware and Peninsula which had previously been occupied by Pacific Studios, a silent film production lot, for US$67,500 (equivalent to $1,500,000 in 2023).

[4] The Merchant Marines had vacated the Coyote Point facility by January 1947 due to budget cutbacks, and SMJC started offering courses there in September.

[2]: 58–59  The haste with which Coyote Point had been pressed into service soon became evident; steam pipes for heating developed leaks and airplane traffic to nearby San Francisco International Airport repeatedly interrupted instruction in classrooms built with inadequate insulation.

Although classes at started at College Heights, work continued; the new library opened on November 15, and the new campus was dedicated on December 8 of that year.

San Mateo Middle College is an alternative high school program serving grades 11 and 12 which operates on the CSM campus.

The college offers the following men's sports: football, baseball, track & field, cross country and swimming; and the following women's sports: softball, basketball, track & field, cross country, sand volleyball, indoor volleyball, water polo and swimming.