The building was declared unsafe following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake and classes moved to tents and bungalows on the Garfield site, which students nicknamed Splinterville.

[5][6] Santa Monica College experienced a financial crisis in 1972 when the state of California changed the age of majority from 21 to 18.

Since the state paid $40 more per unit of attendance of minors than adults, the change cut SMC's budget in half.

The crisis was halted on March 8, 1972, when the California State Senate passed a bill temporarily exempting community colleges from the financial effects of the change in the age of adulthood.

In 2012 Santa Monica College received national attention due to a controversial plan to create a two-tier system of education in which more "popular" courses would be offered at higher costs.

[9] On June 7, 2013, a killing spree occurred in Santa Monica that left a total of five people dead, including the gunman and injured five others.

The incident started several miles off-campus before the gunman traveled to SMC and entered the college's library, where he was later fatally shot by police.

[10] On October 14, 2024, a tragic shooting occurred at the Santa Monica College Center for Media and Design, where a custodial operations manager, Felicia Hudson, was critically injured.

[12] The shooting has been classified as a case of workplace violence, with the suspect identified as Davon Durell Dean, also an SMC employee.

After an extensive manhunt, Dean was found deceased in his vehicle in Hawthorne, having died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Santa Monica College fields 18 sports, eight men's teams and competes as a member of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) in the Western State Conference (WSC) for all sports except football, which competes in Southern California Football Association (SCFA).

The field was the starting point for both the men's and women's marathon events for the 1984 Summer Olympics held in neighboring Los Angeles.

Santa Monica College is the home of KCRW (89.9 FM), a public radio station, broadcasting throughout the Los Angeles and Orange County area with an estimated 450,000 listeners.

As part of its hands-on media curriculum, the college produces its own weekly, student-run newspaper (both in print, and online) called The Corsair.

As part of the college's academic curriculum, publication of The Corsair also provides experience as a hands-on training vehicle for Southern California journalism students.

[31] SMC students who pay the $19.50 Associated Students fee at registration have unlimited access to the Big Blue Bus lines across Santa Monica and its adjacent neighborhoods, including a line on Lincoln Boulevard that accesses Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).