Tidewater Community College (TCC) is a public

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 ...

South Hampton Roads South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia's Tidewater region in the United States with a total population of 1,177,742 as of 2020. It is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA ( M ...

, Virginia, with

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

es in Chesapeake,

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, and

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

. It is part of the

Virginia Community College System The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) oversees a network of 23 community colleges in Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlant ...

and is accredited by the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is a regional educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. As of 2022, the organization oversees app ...

to award the associate degree.

History

The school was founded in 1968, when a local philanthropist, Fred W. Beazley, closed the existing Frederick College and deeded the land to the Commonwealth of Virginia for the creation of Tidewater Community College. With the support of Hampton Roads' municipalities, TCC quickly expanded to Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, and in the 1990s, it helped revitalize downtown Norfolk by establishing a campus in former department store buildings. In 2010, the Portsmouth campus relocated to a new site within the city. In 2003 TCC signed an agreement with

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnersh ...

that allows students to transfer from one to another. In 2017, Tidewater Community College (Virginia Beach and Norfolk campuses) entered into an agreement with Virginia Wesleyan University on the "Tidewater Promise," a parallel concurrent enrollment program that permits students to take advantage of most services and resources on the VWU campus while enrolled as associate degree students at TCC. The program enables students to guarantee tuition costs for four years and to complete a four-year bachelor's degree less expensively than attending a state university. Edna V. Baehre-Kolovani took office as the college's fifth president in July 2012. She succeeded Deborah M. DiCroce, who had served for 14 years. In early 2018, the college's faculty voted "no confidence" in Baehre-Kolovani as enrollments declined and the college announced another round of layoffs (following layoffs in 2017). Tidewater Community College's mascot is Storm and the school colors are royal blue and white.

Literary festival and journal

Tidewater Community College publishes an annual literary journal called the ''Channel Marker''. Submissions are accepted in the fall semester and the publication is released in the spring (usually April) in conjunction with TCC's Annual Literary Festival.Channel Marker homepage

Notable alumni

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III ( ; born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 75th List of governors of North Carolina, governor of North Carolina from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), De ...

, member of the

West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature in West Virginia. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular se ...

* John Cosgrove, member of the

Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

* Cecil Lewis, indoor soccer midfielder * Kevin Newsome, college football quarterback *

Jay Pharoah Jared Antonio Farrow (born October 14, 1987), better known by his stage name Jay Pharoah, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2010 to 2016. In 2015, he was ...

, stand-up comedian and actor *

Chris Richardson Christopher Michael Richardson (born February 19, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter who was the fifth-place finalist on the sixth season of ''American Idol''. Personal life Richardson was born in Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ...

, singer-songwriter *

Winsome Sears Winsome Earle-Sears (born March 11, 1964) is an American politician, businesswoman, and Marine Corps veteran serving as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Virginia since 2022. A member of the Republican Party, she is Virginia's first female lieut ...

, 42nd

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held ...

* Terrie Suit, 1st Virginia Secretary of Veterans Affairs * Rachel Ventura, member of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

References

External links

* {{Coord, 36.850109, -76.291333, type:edu_globe:earth_region:US-VA, display=title Two-year colleges in the United States Virginia Community College System Education in Norfolk, Virginia Universities and colleges established in 1968 Education in Portsmouth, Virginia Education in Chesapeake, Virginia Education in Virginia Beach, Virginia 1968 establishments in Virginia Education in Suffolk, Virginia