Tallahassee Community College

Tallahassee Community College (TCC) is a public community college in Tallahassee, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. As of fall 2017, TCC reported 24,639 students. On July 1, 2024, the institution will be renamed to Tallahassee State College.

History

Tallahassee Junior College was founded in 1966 by the Florida Legislature; it was rebranded as Tallahassee Community College (TCC) in 1970. Prior to completion of the main campus, classes were held at Godby High School.

The campus was built on what had been Tallahassee's airport, Dale Mabry Field, prior to the opening of the Tallahassee Municipal Airport in 1961. The former runways of the airport are still visible, and these paved areas are used primarily for parking.

There have been six presidents in the history of the college:

Tallahassee Community College had an annual economic impact of $387.7 million as of 2015.

Locations

Tallahassee Community College serves Leon, Gadsden, and Wakulla counties as well as students from around the state, nation, and world.

The main campus is located 1.9 miles from Florida State University. The surrounding area is primarily made up of student housing and commercial amenities that cater to college students. Besides being the capital of the state of Florida, Tallahassee is also a college town, with a total of more than 63,000 students studying at Florida State University, Florida A&M University, and Tallahassee Community College.

Campuses

• Main Campus, located on the west side of Tallahassee, opened in 1967. The 270-acre (1.1 km²) campus serves as the main campus for the college.

Centers

• Center for Innovation is located in downtown Tallahassee across the street from the Florida Capitol. The 34,00-square foot space brings together the public sector, private businesses, and nonprofit organizations in one space. It is also home to the Institute for Nonprofit Innovation and Excellence (INIE).
• Florida Public Safety Institute (FPSI), located in Gadsden County, was established in 2009 to train the best and brightest in public safety careers such as law enforcement, corrections, criminal justice, security, and firefighting. The facility first opened in 1977 as the Law Enforcement Training and Education Center. It was renamed the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy in 1996. FPSI sits on almost 1,500 acres of diverse grounds which includes thick wooded terrain, wetlands, streams, and bodies of water and is home 12 buildings, a 200-room housing facility, a large conference center, and multiple specialized training sites and facilities.
• Gadsden Center, located in nearby Quincy, Florida, opened in 2016.
• Ghazvini Center for Healthcare Education, located in Tallahassee's medical corridor, opened in 2011. The Ghazvini Center offers over 85,000 square feet of space entirely devoted to programs in the healthcare field.
• Wakulla Center, located in Crawfordville, Florida, opened in 2006. The Center gives the students of Wakulla County opportunities to earn initial credits before continuing their studies on the main campus.
• Wakulla Environmental Institute (WEI), located in nearby Crawfordville, Florida, opened in 2016. It is home to the Oyster Aquaculture Certificate Program, an Unmanned Vehicle Systems National Training Center, and the Urban Farming and Entrepreneurship Training Program.

Academics

TCC is consistently ranked as one of the top community colleges in the nation offering seamless transfer opportunities and in-demand career training.

The Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree is the most popular degree program, allowing students to transfer to a university to pursue a bachelor's degree or higher.

TCC also offers nearly 100 degrees, certificates, and job-training programs. It also offers four bachelor's degrees.

Enrollment

As of the Fall of 2022:

• 41% of students came to TCC from outside the service district of Leon, Gadsden, and Wakulla counties. Top Florida counties for enrollment include Broward, Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Orange, and Palm Beach.
• 71% white; 9% Black, 14% Hispanic, 4% Multi-Racial
• 62% female; 28% male
• 66% full-time course load; 34% part-time course load

Student life

TCC is home to many student clubs, organizations, academic programs, and teams that provide students the opportunity to get involved on campus.A student newspaper, the Talon, is published at least five times a semester by the students of a journalism class, and a literary magazine, The Eyrie, is published annually.

Fitness and sports

The Lifetime Sports Complex is a 70,000-square-foot (6,500 m²) complex located on the west side of Tallahassee Community College's main campus. The facility houses the Eagle Fitness Center and Recreation Gym. It contains three full-length basketball courts as well as multipurpose facilities for recreational usage. The recreation gym has open informal recreation time for basketball, volleyball, table tennis, and other sports. The recreation gym contains cardio and weight lifting equipment as well as group fitness classes. This facility is free to all students with a valid TCC ID.

Intramurals and club sports

TCC's Intramural Sports program provides all students, staff, and faculty the opportunity to participate in recreational sports and activities. These include a variety of team and individual sports and special events, such as flag football, basketball, indoor and outdoor soccer, volleyball, and dodgeball.

Parking and area transportation

The TCC campus is served by the StarMetro Bus Service. StarMetro provides transportation to and from campus to the surrounding Tallahassee area including student housing complexes.

Parking on the main campus is free.

Athletics

TCC Athletics include men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, softball, men's cross country, and women's cross country. The official mascot is the eagle. The school's athletic teams compete in the Panhandle Conference of the Florida College System Activities Association, a body of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 8.

Notable alumni

• Jason Bennett - basketball player who last played for the Jacksonville Giants of the ABA
• Lorenzo Cain - Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder for the Kansas City Royals who won the 2014 American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award
• John Crawford - author of the Iraq War memoir The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell
• Ryan Freel (1976–2012) - MLB player
• Clay Harvison - professional mixed martial artist formerly with Bellator MMA and the Ultimate Fighting Championship
• Marcus Hatten - former professional basketball player, 2006 top scorer in the Israel Basketball Premier League
• Cheryl Hines - actress, comedian, producer and director, known for her role as Larry David's wife Cheryl on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards
• Bernard James - professional basketball player for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA)
• Michael Saunders - Canadian MLB center fielder for the Toronto Blue Jays
• Bootsy Thornton - professional basketball player who last played for Strasbourg IG in France
• Gregory Tony (born 1978) - Sheriff of Broward County, Florida

References

External links

• Official website
• Official athletics website