Tacoma Community College Marks 60 Years of Impact

The July-August 2026 edition of our sister publication, South Sound Business, is focused on local legacy businesses. it’s putting a spotlight on several in the area; read about last week’s subject, Capital Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electric, here.

Tacoma Community College opened on Sept. 13, 1965, as a result of local advocacy. With no affordable public college option available in Pierce County, voters approved bonds, the city donated land, and civic groups wrote letters in support of its creation. That fall, the school welcomed 1,084 students. By the end of the academic year, nine transfer students completed their degrees and became TCC’s first graduates.

The school came to be widely known as “the Community’s College,” a nickname that aptly reflects its commitment to local engagement.

In 1966, TCC offered classes at McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary. By the early ’70s, it had programs at McChord Air Force Base, Fort Lewis, community centers, and the County-City Building. An extension opened in the late ’70s and eventually became the Gig Harbor branch campus, which still serves students across the Key Peninsula today.

The college began partnering with local hospitals in 1968 to offer associate degrees in nursing, X-ray technology, and medical records.

Clinical training was supported by medical institutions such as St. Joseph’s, Tacoma General, and Madigan Army Hospital. Today, health care programs remain among TCC’s most popular.

Over time, the student population grew to more than 10,000 annually. As of 2026, the school has served more than 600,000 scholars.

“We’ve always been student-focused,” professor Phil Hunter said, reflecting on more than 30 years of teaching at TCC. “What changed was the thinking that the institution needed to be ready for the students who come here, not the other way around.”

Hunter pointed to changes over the years that increased higher education accessibility within the community, including reworking English and math placement so students were not stuck in yearlong remedial sequences, expanding food and housing resources, and developing bachelor’s degrees so professional-technical students could continue their education without starting over at a university.

Looking ahead, President Ivan L. Harrell II said the college’s priorities remain tied to local needs. “We’ll continue to evaluate what those needs are, have conversations with employers, and continue to evaluate the programs, degree offerings, and certificate offerings, to make sure that what we are offering is meeting the needs of the community that we serve,” he said.

During his presidential interview, Harrell asked the board whether it planned to drop “community” from the college’s name, as many institutions across America have been doing.

“They responded very strongly — no,” he said. “The community is very important in the name of TCC.”

He said that importance was evident throughout the college’s 60th-anniversary celebration last year, which featured alumni storytelling projects, a community festival, and the opening of the Center for Innovative Learning and Engagement on the footprint of one of the original campus buildings.

“You can’t go very far in Tacoma without running into someone who has attended TCC or has a family member who has,” Harrell said. “That really speaks to this being a significant part of the legacy of the city.”