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About TCC

TCC AT A GLANCE:

Tidewater Community College has served South Hampton Roads — both students and employers — for 50 years. It has grown from 1 campus into a regional educational and economic force.

Founded in 1968 as a part of the Virginia Community College System, Tidewater Community College (TCC) serves South Hampton Roads with 4 campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, and 6 regional centers. TCC is the second largest of the 23 Virginia community colleges, enrolling nearly 25,000 students in 2020-21.

The college had 2,963 graduates in 2020-2021, 48 percent of whom pursued degrees that would let them transfer to 4-year institutions. Of South Hampton Roads residents enrolled in higher education, 33% enrolled at TCC. TCC’s regional accreditation is affirmed through 2027 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The college has 13 nationally accredited academic programs.

Fast Facts:

  • TCC is No. 1 in Military Times’ “Best for Vets” 2021 ranking of 2-year schools in Virginia and ninth overall among two-year institutions in the nation. About one-third of TCC’s enrollment is made up of military-related students.
  • About 65% of TCC attend part-time, and 35% are full-time.
  • TCC has 273 full-time teaching faculty and hundreds of part-time faculty serving nearly 25,000 students a year

“You can’t silo education and workforce training. We’ve got to break the silos down, and community colleges are where this is happening.”

Sen. Tim Kaine
To be our community’s first choice for education, opportunity, partnership, and innovation.
Tidewater Community College provides collegiate education and workforce training to individuals of all ages, helping them achieve their goals and contribute to the vitality of the regional and global community.
  • Teaching & Learning Excellence: Provide students a path to academic achievement through active engagement, high academic expectations, and opportunities for exploration and curiosity.
  • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion: Create an environment in which policies, practices, and beliefs are grounded in the principle of fairness and that acknowledges structural racism, gender disparities, and systemic poverty while honoring the diversity of humanity.
  • Community: Actively engage our stakeholders to design and deliver programs and services to support our students and the region.
  • Innovation: Imagine and proactively apply new methods and creative solutions.
  • Empathy: Engage in actions that promote personal well-being, social good, and trust by continually recognizing the interdependence of our students, employees, and community in a shared human experience.
  • Integrity: Demonstrate truthfulness, transparency, and stewardship through responsible actions and decisions.
  • Accountability: Hold ourselves and each other responsible for fulfilling our obligations.
Learn more about TCC’s 5-year Strategic Plan here.
Tidewater Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award the associate degree. Tidewater Community College also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Questions about the accreditation of Tidewater Community College may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s website (www.sacscoc.org).
  • 1966: The Virginia General Assembly establishes the Virginia Community College System to provide comprehensive institutions that address unmet needs in higher education and workforce training
  • 1968: The Beazley Foundation donates the Frederick College site on the banks of the James River to the Commonwealth of Virginia to establish a community college. It eventually becomes the Frederick W. Beazley Portsmouth Campus.
  • 1973: The Virginia Beach Campus opens, dedicated by Gov. Mills E. Godwin Jr., the “father” of Virginia community colleges. The Chesapeake Campus also opens.
  • 1984: The Chesapeake Campus opens the region’s first robotics lab, and the Frederick Campus initiates a $126,000 computer-aided drafting program.
  • 1995: The Visual Arts Center opens in the former Famous department store building in Olde Towne Portsmouth.
  • 1997: TCC’s campus in downtown Norfolk opens, helping to revitalize the area.
  • 2000: The 1926 Loews Theater, renamed the Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center, becomes the fourth building in the ongoing development of the Norfolk Campus.
  • 2007: The State Board for Community Colleges approves the TCC Business Plan for student centers on each of the four campuses.
  • 2010: The new Fred W. Beazley Portsmouth Campus replaces the founding campus in northern Suffolk.
  • 2011: The first of four student centers opens on the Norfolk Campus. The others follow in 2013 and 2014.
  • 2012: Edna V. Baehre-Kolovani is named TCC’s 5th president. The Regional Health Professions Center opens on the Virginia Beach Campus.
  • 2013: TCC and the City of Virginia Beach launch the 120,000-square-foot Joint-Use Library on the Virginia Beach Campus. President Kolovani leads the development of the 2013-2018 strategic plan, “One College, One Voice, One Future.” TCC holds the first regional jobs summit, “Let’s Grow.” TCC becomes the first regionally accredited institution to offer a full degree program using open-educational resources, freeing students from the cost of textbooks.
  • 2014: The Chesapeake Campus grows with the addition of the Chesapeake Academic Building, which includes the Black Box Theatre.
  • 2015: TCC creates dual-enrollment programs with Chesapeake and Virginia Beach public schools focusing on advanced manufacturing.
  • 2016: TCC is named a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE2Y) by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
  • 2017: The TCC Educational Foundation announces the establishment of the TCC Women’s Center STEM Promise Program, whose goal is to increase the number of women and minority students earning STEM degrees.
  • 2018: TCC opens a unique, 20,000 square-foot Skilled Trades Academy in Portsmouth that provides short-term workforce training for in-demand construction and maritime trades ranging from welding to pipe fitting to marine coating and pipe laying.
  • 2019: Marcia Conston is named TCC’s 6th president.