By Jamil Oakford/ editor-in-chief
TCC was ranked 10th in the state for online colleges, according to a report published by the National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
The system rated colleges from across the state, and TCC appears alongside Texas A&M in College Station, Alamo Community College and others.
TCC Connect, the college’s virtual campus, handles distance learning courses, and campus administrators were pleased to hear the news.
“We are excited and honored to be recognized for meeting the needs of today’s students through our eLearning and Weekend College offerings,” campus president Carlos Morales said in an email. “Both give students much needed options to reach their educational goals.”
Students enrolled through the virtual campus have access to certificate programs that are fully offered online as well as individual courses that are available to busy students.
For online student Autumn Braudaway, TCC Connect is a desirable option for the life she has.
“I chose online classes for the convenience,” she said. “I am a mother of two boys with a busy life, and TCC offered something I couldn’t refuse: online learning.”
Online courses have offered Braudaway tutoring and rapid responses from professors, two things that were important to her.
“This has given me an opportunity to earn my degree while still being a mother,” she said.
While TCC Connect is honored by the ranking, it strives to offer more pathways for students to achieve their academic and career goals.
“Our goal is to see them graduate with a degree or certificate that propels them to be successful in the workplace and secure their dream career,” Morales said.
Over the last several years, TCC Connect has grown, offering more than 350 courses solely online, 13 certificate programs and five associate degrees.
Board president Louise Appleman couldn’t be more pleasantly surprised with how TCC Connect has grown.
“If you had told me even five years ago that online education was going to be the ‘in’ thing, I would’ve told you that no one wouldn’t want to give up face-to-face education,” she said. “It’s where the world is now, and I have to hand it to Erma [Johnson Hadley, former chancellor] and Dr. [Joy Gates]Black [vice chancellor of student success and academic affairs] for seeing that coming and putting us in the arena.
“And with all of these for-profit schools closing, it’s important for us to be there for those students.”
