Allan Hancock College Welcomes 10K Students in Lompoc and Santa Maria
Jarrod Zinn
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The fall semester for 2025 has started at Allan Hancock College.
Officials say enrollment is up a little from last year.
At the previous class’s commencement a couple months ago, president Walthers commented about having “too many graduates,” and it looks like this year will be following the same pattern.
With very warm, sunny weather on the Central Coast, the first day of the fall semester for 2025 officially began at Allan Hancock College on Monday.
“You can see there’s a lot of stuff going on on campus today,” says Allan Hancock College president Kevin Walthers. “Students are back for the first time, parking lots are full.”
About 10,000 students are enrolled between the Santa Maria and Lompoc campuses this year, which is up a little from last year, according to president Walthers.
“At any given time we have somewhere around 600 faculty members teaching classes,” says Walthers.
College officials say that while there are online options, the bulk of the classes are held in-person, because they learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that students strongly prefer in-person learning.
“Our STEM classes are all full,” says Walthers. “So all of our chemistry and math classes and our engineering classes are all just packed.”
Students arriving on campus are getting plenty of support.
“Today we have the informational booth,” says student ambassador Maria Martinez. “A lot of students don’t know where their classes are. So we’re guiding them to their classes. If not we’re trying to explain to them, like they have also questions, where there’s parking, financial aid.”
“We have a food pantry and we have a clothes closet and we have emergency grants and loans for students,” says Walthers. “We put a lot of things in place to help those students get through their program in a timely manner.”
Students are excited about collaborations between other campuses including Cuesta’s cybersecurity cohort, Santa Barbara City College’s radiology program, and upcoming programs with Cal Poly including sociology and business.
According to president Walthers, about 1,100 students are Hancock Promise students, having just graduated from local high schools and on course for 2 years of tuition-free classes.
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