Richard Pugsley

Tidewater Community College

Founded in 1968 as a part of the Virginia Community College System, Tidewater Community College (TCC) serves South Hampton Roads with campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach; the Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center in the downtown Norfolk theater district; a regional Advanced Technology Center and Regional Health Professions Center on its Virginia Beach Campus; the Regional Automotive Center in Chesapeake; the Regional Workforce Development Center in Suffolk; the Skilled Trades Academy in Portsmouth; and the Center for Military and Veterans Education on the Virginia Beach Campus. TCC is the largest provider of higher education and workforce development services in Hampton Roads, enrolling nearly 25,000 students annually—the second largest undergraduate student body in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Ninety-eight percent of graduates would recommend TCC to those continuing their education. TCC has 13 nationally accredited programs. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate degree, and among two-year institutions in the U.S. More than half of TCC graduates receive associate degrees allowing them to transfer to four-year institutions; of those, two-thirds continue their education at four-year schools. In the workplace, employers consistently express high levels of satisfaction with employees who are TCC graduates.