A day after the Oklahoma State University president shared a vision for blending Tulsa Community College into the Cowboys family, TCC President Leigh Goodson reassured staff and students she is committed to working with all “university partners.”
Goodson sent a campus-wide email touting TCC’s accomplishments, including welcoming its highest enrollment since fall 2013. The college recently became the first in Oklahoma to earn accreditation from the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships and increased its enrollment in its School for Health Sciences by 400 students from last year.
TCC will offer its first bachelor’s degree in child development next year and launched a data analytics program. In the past two years, it conferred more than 6,800 degrees and 500 certificates — the highest two-year totals in its history.
“This year our university partners have approached us wanting to partner and expand our transfer partnerships at levels I’ve never seen before,” Goodson stated. “I believe there is room in this community for TCC to expand its transfer partnerships with all our university partners while providing in-demand associate and bachelor’s degrees for our community.
“In cities across the country, strong community colleges exist alongside large universities, and the solution for Tulsa’s bachelor’s degree attainment does not have to be an all-or-nothing approach. Our Regents and leadership are committed to TCC’s vision of an educated, employed, and thriving community.”
At a Monday Tulsa Press Club event, OSU President Jim Hess said he saw a path that merged the university and TCC, saying Tulsa is the largest city in the U.S. without a comprehensive, four-year public university.
Hess said he’s approached TCC about the possibility, promising that successful aspects such as lower tuition and the Tulsa Achieves free tuition program would remain. The two-year accreditation, ad valorem income or administration would not be affected, he added.
Any such changes would need regent and legislative approval.
TCC has partnerships with several universities on issues such as credit transfers. Those partners include OSU, University of Oklahoma, Langston University, University of Tulsa, Northeastern State University, Rogers State University and Southern Nazarene University.
Last week, TCC launched a $30 million “Advancing Together” capital fundraising campaign to modernize its downtown Metro campus. Leaders are planning $59 million in renovations, with a groundbreaking ceremony expected in December. Construction will take 18 months.
“I am proud of the trajectory that the College is currently on, and the TCC brand is strong in Tulsa,” Goodson stated. “TCC is one of this community’s best assets, and our enrollment, retention, and graduation numbers all show the Tulsa region wants and needs a strong TCC.”
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