SMC is a career-focused liberal arts college, which means you’ll take classes in a variety of subjects for a more diverse degree. You can explore a wide range of academic interests before choosing a major. you'll also get a built-in professional development program with hands-on experiences to provide you with the skills necessary to excel in any career.

Like many private liberal arts colleges in the United States, SMC has a smaller student body and a smaller teacher-to-student ratio, giving you a more personalized experience.

How a liberal arts college benefits you:

• Professors at liberal arts colleges focus on teaching. Professors at large universities often have publishing requirements that take up their time and focus. This means they have less time to devote to creating and teaching excellent classes.
• Courses are taught by professors, not students. At universities, graduate students often serve as instructors in lower-level courses. This means you may not get the benefit of a professor’s knowledge and experience when you need it the most.
• Smaller class sizes mean professors can devote more time and attention to each student. At universities, lower-level courses often have hundreds of students at a time in large lecture halls. For students who struggle academically, small classes mean more support.
• Liberal arts colleges emphasize study in a wide area of subjects (history, math, philosophy, English…) to broaden your education. This teaches you important skills that transfer to any career field and increase your value to employers. Some of these skills include: critical thinking, problem-solving, taking information from a variety of sources and using it to create new information (synthesis), and communication.

How SMC benefits you:

SMC is unique among liberal arts colleges because we focus on providing you with a well-rounded education plus the career skills employers want. Why is that a benefit? Because, in your life, you won’t have just one career, you’ll have many. No college major can prepare you today for all of the jobs you’ll have in the future. But the professional skills employers want will be valuable throughout your careers.

At SMC you’ll receive all the benefits of a liberal arts college above, as well as:

• A single advisor to help you with academics, career, and any other issues throughout your education journey at SMC.
• Faculty mentors who will guide you once you’ve chosen your major.
• Our emphasis on providing an extraordinary liberal arts experience means you’ll spend your first two years fully immersed in a variety of classes, with plenty of time to discover what interests you.
• An opportunity to achieve two degrees in four years. Earn your associate degree before continuing on to one of our bachelor's degree programs.
• You’ll perform group projects that teach understanding and openness to the ideas of others.
• By doing in-class presentations, you’ll sharpen communication skills.
• Your leadership abilities will be strengthened through participation in student organizations.
• Athletics foster a sense of loyalty and commitment.
• Creativity and imagination are encouraged by involvement in the arts and educational programs.
• Community outreach projects foster civic and social responsibility.
• You’ll graduate prepared to use the skills you attain here to build careers, lead others and strengthen our society.