Santa Barbara City College returns with students planning their college future under some unique job conditions ahead
John Palminteri
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Some of the basic jobs of the future may not be as certain as once thought and Santa Barbara City College students are making plans and adjusting plans based on the ever-changing conditions.
This is the first week for the fall semester at SBCC. Thousands of students have arrived on campus. Enrollment is slightly lower than 2024.
Santa Barbara City College President Erika Endrijonas said, “we are about five percent down relative to where we were from last year however those numbers do not include our dual enrollment students”. Those are high school students who are also taking college classes and those numbers will be added in the weeks ahead.
Fewer international students are on the campus and the school says those who are enrolled had an important blend with the other students .
Endrijonas said, “more international students means we have a broader more diverse community and we expose our students our Santa Barbara county students to all these cultures from around the world. We also have a dual enrollment program with UCSB so some of their international students come here to take classes.”
She also said the campus also gets a solid financial boost from the fees paid by an international student.
Students in the Community College District from Gaviota to Carpinteria are assited with the Santa Barbara Foundation Promise program which covers two years (including Summer school) of the books and tuition costs.
Having a plan and a roadmap to a career has always been the key component for a college education. Some of the careers, for example, finance, manufacturing, writing and marketing may be changing due to the growth of artificial intelligence (AI)
More secure jobs could be in more direct work such as one-on-one health care, including mental health and teaching.
A student in his first year, Esteban Turcios said, “I feel super lucky we have everything we have gas cards too, laptops, to free textbooks every thing’s great .”
Jonathan Santamaria is majoring in automotive and “hopefully I can transfer somewhere and graduate there too and start my own business. “
In addition to the normal transition of high school students to city college for those who are well on their way to a career and want to pivot the school says SBCC is the place where that can happen.
“Opportunities for working professionals displaced homemakers going back to the work place. anybody,” said Endrijonas. “I think what we have todo is make sure we stay focused on what are students actually interested in doing because it is about it’s really about what do you want to do the the rest of your life. We are here to help them”
At the start of the new school year , there’s still room to make a plan or change a plan.
Nathan Egan was between classes on campus and said, “I was doing business administration but not too sure about that I was looking into the nursing program. I have some friends who are nurses and they say I should look into that.”
Audrey Kaobayashi is a student who went to high school in Northern California and said at SBCC she wants to learn, “architecture but you know I am trying to figure out what is transferable to go to the college i want to go to. Probably math and I am trying to get into physics right now, working that out.”
A student who came from Huntington Beach Illeana Horany said she likes physics and is also interested in the underwater welding program the school is offering.
There’s still an option in many classes to attend in person or on line.
Naya Schaefer said, “I feel like the quarantine and on line learning that was a struggle for everyone especially when you are bad at focusing. For me I need to be physical learning. Learning in an environment with other people and a teacher teaching.”
At SBCC, a wide variety of on-campus and online classes are available for those who have a career path, those that are getting their basic courses completed while looking at a major and also classes to retrain workers for the jobs of the future.
While many students do not feel like they have the skills they need for their first job, SBCC and other schools are regularly offering counseling and job fairs to help them meet employers and shape a plan.
The City of Santa Barbara has also held job fairs right in the heart of downtown with employers ranging from banks to the medical industry and law enforcement.
The campus athletics department is also going through a change this year with the new $105 million physical education complex construction underway. Voters approved a bond to help with the funding and $71 million will be coming through that fund source known as Measure P.