HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – Tidewater Community College’s Educational Foundation is expanding the college’s dual enrollment program, which will allow more high school students in Portsmouth Public Schools to start their college careers early.
The expansion was made possible by a $125,000 gift from the Beazley Foundation.
“As a college president, I am a huge fan of dual enrollment,” said TCC President Edna V. Baehre-Kolovani. “It’s clear from research that students who complete more than one dual enrollment course are more likely to finish college, and once they’re in college, their GPAs are higher.”
Portsmouth’s dual-enrollment program, First College, allows high school students to take TCC classes to get college credits. More than 1,200 students have earned college credit through TCC since the program started in 2006.
“Currently, seniors have an opportunity to graduate with at least 18 college credits in programs focusing on either college transfer or career/technical fields, including welding, automotive and computer-aided drafting and design,” a TCC spokesperson said. “The additional investment from the Beazley Foundation allows TCC to expand those offerings to pathways in cybersecurity and nurse aide training.”
TCC will also create a First College Scholars Graduate Academy that will provide a way for students to complete a high school diploma and a certificate fulfilling first year requirements at TCC and four-year colleges and universities.
The school will also create a new Early College Academy that will allow ninth-graders to begin dual enrollment and complete a high school diploma and one of three associate degrees at TCC at the same time.
