The Virginian-Pilot
©
Jason Elliott remembers exactly how he felt about enrolling in Tidewater Community College right out of high school.
He hated it.
"I really did not want to go to TCC. I thought, 'What could TCC do for someone who graduated at the top of their class?' " Elliott said.
Elliott signed up for classes "kicking and screaming," he said. Two years later, the student government president of the Chesapeake campus leaves the same way.
"I'm going to miss this place so much," said Elliott, 20, who will graduate Friday with an associate degree in social sciences. "So quickly, I went from the attitude of what can this little school do for me to what can I do at this school."
Elliott represents the youthful trend at TCC. The number of high school graduates who go immediately to the college has risen 54 percent in the past five years.
In the fall, 22 percent of all Southside public high school graduates enrolled at TCC, up from 16 percent in 2004. In the past year, the number of recent high school graduates has increased 10 percent (232 students).
TCC's student body is getting younger as community colleges nationwide are getting larger. A ccording to the American Association of Community Colleges, enrollment in the nation's 1,173 community colleges - which includes technical and junior schools - increased 17 percent from 2007 to 2009.
"I think we could safely say this has been evolving over the last decade," TCC President Deborah DiCroce said. "When people come here, they see that this isn't their grandfather's community college. It's a very vital, vibrant place to launch baccalaureate studies."
Elliott planned to stay one semester. Working in the provost's office and checking out campus activities changed that.
"I started meeting person after person that I really admired, people I could relate to in so many different ways," he said. "I did anything I could get my hands on."
DiCroce said a common thread among surveys of students has been a call for "a place to call their own." In January, TCC will open its 89,500-square-foot student center on the Norfolk campus. The other three campuses will have operational student centers by 2012.
Among the amenities at the student center: child-minding, a dropoff service that will allow students to leave children while they attend class.
"Students today are so consumer-savvy; they want all the bells and whistles of a full college experience," DiCroce said. "The extracurricular becomes as important as the curricular."
The school offers academic, political, international and social clubs in addition to three sports teams, a student newspaper and a student magazine. Since the fall, TCC has added clubs for computer gaming, animals and fashion, in addition to a Caribbean student organization.
Sisters Cydney and Porshia Jones, ages 20 and 21, respectively, recently represented TCC at the National Black Student Leadership Conference in Northern Virginia.
Cydney had planned to attend TCC since she started high school at Portsmouth Christian. Porshia was sitting with her mother during a visit at Liberty University when she began to seriously consider the option.
"Ever since that day, I've been really happy with my decision. The finances have worked really well for me. An education is an education, and I really wanted to go to where it's affordable."
Tuition is $94.50 per credit hour at TCC. A three-credit class with all fees comes to $362.55.
The price was right for Kelly Barker, 22, and so was convenience. The Smithfield resident worked as a secretary at a land surveyor's office after high school but wanted a career in health care. She finished all her prerequisites while working full time.
"There were just so many different classes to choose from, so many days and times to take them," she said. Without that kind of flexibility, Barker would not have been able to complete her college education. She will graduate with a respiratory therapy degree on Friday, and after working in a clinical setting for a year, Barker probably will attend ODU. The Jones sisters are deciding between Virginia Wesleyan and Howard. Elliott was thrilled when he was accepted to the University of Virginia but was a little wistful, too.
"This place has offered so much more than I ever imagined," he said. "Sometimes I see myself in other students who look like they are being dragged there by their parents. I take them aside and say, 'Man, let me talk to you.' "
Vicki L. Friedman, (757) 477-6874, VickiL120@cox.net
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From TCC you can go anywhere.....
Kind of late with this article, aren't we?
TCC’s been here for a long time; it’s only recently expanded into "fancy" buildings and begun aggressive ad campaigns. I graduated near the front of my HS class in '93; I could’ve easily been accepted by many colleges. However, not knowing which major I wanted to pursue, it made sense to try various curricula at a local, cheap college whose credits would transfer to 4-yr institutions. While there, tuition was ~ $45/credit; I paid my own way by working PT and living at home. After 3 yrs I transferred to VT, obtained a BS of Computer Engr. Now I make lots of $ and drive BMWs. I’m NOT bragging—I’m just making a point: there are many success stories that can be pulled from the past decades. It’s a shame that only now TCC is getting press.
Community Colleges have other benefits too
I took some chemistry and calculus classes at the local community college (NVCC) which had 20-30 in each class and were taught by the actual instructors, who held a Ph.d while friends at larger state school took the same type of classes in an auditorium and they were taught by graduate teaching assistants, some of who had difficulty speaking English. Community colleges can offer bargains beyond the cost per credit hour.
haha
Time to get a real job kid!
Community Colleges - Great Service to the State and Community
What a great story. The notion that community colleges don't "rate" compared to the first two years of undergraduate work at a non-resident four year college is nonsense. Students not only receive sound basic education at community colleges, they get their first taste of the "real world," meeting folks with varied backgrounds who are addressing futures that might be quite different from those attending traditional colleges and universities. Students can begin to understand the serious business of budgeting time and money, develop close relationships with faculty, librarians, and mentors, get more career and academic counseling, and have more time to explore areas within their possible majors before they commit. Where to continue an education gets greater exploration beyond what sports team seems cool or where mom and dad were alums. Often they can work on certificate programs that will permit them to earn significant support dollars while they continue beyond an AA to baccalaureate programs. I have never quite understood the bias against attending local community colleges when their value is as clear as it is.
Another TCC Booster here!
I went to TCC and then transferred to CNC (now CNU). The difference in the real focus of the education was striking. TCC instructors were often part-time and working in the fields that they were instructing. That meant that the information they provided was literally up to the minute. You learned from someone that was actually doing the job, rather than someone who had read alot about the job. Plus, many of the students were employed in the fields that they were taking classes in so you have ready made networking. CNC was good. Most of my profs had never done anything outside of academia. They sometimes taught theory that bore little relation to the real world. (think the exchange between Rodney Dangerfield and the Bus. Prof. in "Back To School") I did get a good philosophical and theoretical background study at CNC. CNC taught: WHY? TCC taught: HOW? TCC is all what you put into it. If you treat it as High School Part II, that is what you will get. If you treat it as seriously as if you were at VT or UVA, that is what you will get.