South Seattle College | Field Guide 2021

Founded in 1969, South Seattle College is located on an 87-acre hilltop campus in West Seattle with panoramic views of the city skyline and surrounding mountains. South serves students with diverse needs to meet their educational and career goals, whether they are just starting their higher education, looking to advance their careers, or trying a new direction. We also offer apprenticeship training at our Georgetown campus. With our affordable and accessible programs, South Seattle College helps people of every age and background thrive in today’s economy.

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Key Facts

Highest Enrolled Programs

College transfer programs
Apprenticeship programs
Basic and Transitional Studies programs
Aviation Maintenance Technology
Welding Fabrication Technology
Automotive Technology

Enrollment

Headcount (all sources): 12,699
FTES (all sources): 4,806
Headcount (state-funded): 9,449
FTES (state-funded): 3,763

Students in Selected Programs

Applied bachelor's: 126
Apprentices: 3,567
I-BEST: 136
International: 588
Running Start: 554
Worker Retraining: 424

Student Profile

Type of Student

Academic/transfer: 25%
Basic skills: 4%
Other: 6%
Workforce education: 65%

Race/Ethnicity*

American Indian/Alaska Native: 3%
Asian: 18%
Black/African American: 15%
Hispanic/Latino: 10%
Pacific Islander: 2%
Other race: 8%
White: 54%

Attendance

Full-time: 30%
Part-time: 70%

Family and Finances

Students receiving need-based financial aid: 25%
Students who work: 66%
Students with children: 31%

Gender

Female: 33%
Male: 67%

Median age

Points of Interest

Programs support regional workforce needs

South Seattle College (SSC) offers a wide range of programs that prepare students for careers or continued education at a university. Pre-college and ESL programs give students a jumpstart into college and the workforce, while professional-technical programs train students for our region’s most in-demand careers. These include careers in aviation, automotive, diesel maintenance, welding, nursing, landscape horticulture, culinary arts and wine studies. SSC also trains thousands of apprentices each year in over 40 different trades.

Reimagining college-level math requirements

As part of the college’s Guided Pathways transformation, SSC’s math faculty are redesigning math courses under a co-requisite model, which means students can take college-level classes while receiving supplemental instruction, instead of having to take pre-college courses first. This approach shortens the length of time the college requires of a student to reach college-level math — helping them stay motivated and on track toward graduation. The results are striking: In spring quarter 2020, 21 of 24 students who needed extra support in math completed their math requirements in one quarter. Under the previous model, only eight of the same 24 would have finished over the course of three quarters.

Guided Pathways success highlighted in national report

The Center for Community College Student Engagement released their Building Momentum: Using Guided Pathways to Redesign the Student Experience report in November 2020, presenting the first national baseline data on student and faculty perceptions of guided pathways practices. South Seattle College is highlighted in the report for having 70% of students responding that someone had talked with them about how long it would take to achieve their goals (an important step in the guided pathways experience). The national average is 48%.

Data is from the 2019-20 academic year. Reflects headcount unless otherwise noted.

*May not add up to 100% because students may be counted in more than one race. Percentages calculated on reported value.