Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

Cuyahoga County, Ohio Cuyahoga County ( or , see ) is a large urban County (United States), county located in the Northeast Ohio, northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat and most populous city is Cleveland. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

. Founded in 1963, it is the oldest and largest public community college within the state. Not until 1961 had Ohio permitted the establishment of community colleges and Ohio was then one of only four U.S. states without them. Tri-C schedules on the semester basis, and offers over 1,000 courses in

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

programs through traditional classroom settings as well as

distance learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

services and its flagship offering known as Cable College. Cable College has offered classes live through the Cleveland area cable companies since the early 1990s. The institution promotes academic advancement through transfer articulation agreements with four-year colleges and universities. Tri-C is accredited by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

Locations

Cuyahoga Community College operates a multi-campus college district in Northeast Ohio. With Cuyahoga County as its primary service area, Tri-C serves Cleveland and the surrounding communities. The four primary campuses include the Eastern Campus in Highland Hills, the Metropolitan Campus of

Downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The economic and cultural center of the city and the Cleveland metropolitan area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square, Cleveland, Publi ...

's Campus District, Western Campus in

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

and Parma Heights, and Westshore campus in Westlake. Tri-C houses its district administrative services at a separate location in Cleveland. An additional facility, the Brunswick University Center in Brunswick, operates as an extension of the Western Campus. The college also operates two Corporate College business training facilities: Corporate College East in Warrensville Heights and Corporate College West in Westlake. Other locations in downtown Cleveland include the Tri-C's Workforce and Economic Development Division (based in the Unified Technologies Center) and the Hospitality Management Center at Public Square. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Library and Archives are located at the Metropolitan Campus' Gill and Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts.

Athletics and student life

Cuyahoga Community College has the following sports activities. *Men's Baseball *Men's Basketball *Women's Basketball * Cuyahoga Community College East 8-27-23 thumbnail IMG 1504

Cuyahoga Community College East 8-27-23 thumbnail IMG 1504

Women's Cross Country & Track *Women's Softball *Women's Volleyball *Men's Soccer The college also has a variety of activities ranging from involvement in the campus governance systems to fine arts and entertainment programming, and membership in student organizations and clubs. Cuyahoga Community College has won the following

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

national titles: *Men's

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

: 1976 *Men's

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

: 2004 (Division II)

Arts

Since 1980 Cuyahoga Community College has hosted the Tri-C JazzFest.

Presidents

*Charles Chapman (1962-1973) *Nolen Ellison (1974-1991) *Jerry Sue Thornton (1992-2013) *Alex Johnson (2013-2022) *Michael A. Baston (2022-Present)

Notable alumni

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry ( ; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant of 1986 and also placing six ...

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

Winning actress *

Shontel Brown Shontel Monique Brown (born June 24, 1975) is an American politician who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Ohio's 11th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Brown pre ...

, U.S. Congresswoman * Jerome Caja, Performance artist * Darrin Chapin, Major League Baseball player * Wayne Dawson, News Broadcaster *

Frank G. Jackson Frank George Jackson (born October 4, 1946) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 57th Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 2006 to 2022. He was first elected on November 8, 2005, unseating incumbent Jane Campbell, and re-elected in 2 ...

, Mayor of Cleveland *

Dominique Moceanu Dominique Helena Moceanu (, ; ; born September 30, 1981) is an American former artistic gymnast. She was a member of the gold medal-winning United States women's gymnastics team, the " Magnificent Seven", at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. ...

, 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist * Dale Mohorcic, Major League Baseball player *

Lorin Morgan-Richards Lorin Morgan-Richards (born February 16, 1975) is an American author, illustrator, and songwriter, primarily known for his young adult fiction and Gothic Western comedy series ''The Goodbye Family''. In the past, Morgan-Richards served as the p ...

, Author and illustrator *

Jeff Shaw Jeffrey Lee Shaw (born July 7, 1966) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox of the American League (AL), and the Montreal Expos, Cinc ...

, Major League Baseball player * Ben Wallace,

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

References

External links

* {{Coord, 41.447, -81.501, display=title, region:US-OH_type:edu, format=dms Universities and colleges established in 1963 Community colleges in Ohio Universities and colleges in Cleveland Universities and colleges in Cuyahoga County, Ohio 1963 establishments in Ohio NJCAA schools Two-year colleges in the United States