Trying to juggle work, school and family can prevent many college students from enrolling full time, making it difficult to persist and succeed. In 2017, Santa Barbara City College was awarded a Federal Title V Grant for $2.7 million to develop a program aimed specifically at serving part-time students, who make up approximately two-thirds of SBCC’s population. On Saturday, December 8, SBCC will hold a forum about its new “Evening College” where people working day jobs can earn an Associate Degree at night and on weekends while working full time.

SBCC’s outstanding academic programs and learning support services are recognized nationwide, however they are mostly accessible to full-time students attending daytime classes. Students who work during the day have not had access to the same resources, primarily because those services have not been available on evenings or weekends. With Evening College, counseling, tutoring and other support services will be available in the evening, and classes will be scheduled in a defined sequence to help students stay on track toward earning their degree.

According to Dr. Joshua Ramirez, Project Director of the grant, “Our goal is to adapt the college culture to support degree completion for those students who can only attend part time, or who fluctuate between full-time and part-time status.” He describes the program as shifting the focus of the college to becoming “student ready” rather than expecting all students to conform to the traditional full-time student model.

Graduates from the Evening College will leave with one of four associate degrees: Associate in Arts for Transfer in Psychology, Associate in Arts for Transfer in Economics, Associate in Arts in Liberal Arts and Humanities, Associate in Arts in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Antioch University Santa Barbara is a transfer partner, creating a pathway for graduates to further their education.

One aspect of SBCC’s mission statement is to “foster opportunity for all.” Evening College creates one more step toward fulfilling that mission by becoming what Dr. Ramirez considers “The College of Next Opportunity.”

Learn more about SBCC’s new Evening College at a forum to be held on Saturday, December 8, 10 – 11:30 a.m., in WCC 212 (West Campus Center). For more information contact Joshua Ramirez: jramirez63@pipeline.sbcc.edu