| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Public community college district; campus classes plus TCC Connect online and Weekend College |
| Locations | Five campuses (Northeast, Northwest, South, Southeast, Trinity River) with their centers; this page lists the seven that teach career programs, all in Texas |
| Students | 49,393 in fall 2025, a college record; 47,578 in spring 2026 |
| Credentials | Occupational skills awards, Level 1 and Level 2 certificates, advanced technical and enhanced skills certificates, AAS degrees and one bachelor’s degree (BAS in Early Childhood Education and Teaching) |
| Program length | From an 11-credit HVAC installer award to AAS degrees of 60 to 68 credits |
| Tuition Fall 2026 | $74 per credit hour for Tarrant County residents, $136 for other Texans, $315 out-of-state and international; no separate mandatory fees |
| Accreditation | SACSCOC; 10-year reaffirmation announced by TCC in August 2024 |
| Federal aid | Yes (FAFSA) |
| Admission | Open; nursing, allied health and aviation programs have their own applications |
| Facts checked | 8 October 2026 |
Tarrant County’s public college, on five campuses
Tarrant County College (TCC) is the public community college district for Tarrant County, Texas. It teaches on five campuses in Fort Worth, Hurst and Arlington, at centers attached to them, and through TCC Connect, its online and Weekend College division. It counted a record 49,393 students in fall 2025. Most of its career training is in health care and the trades: an ACEN-accredited nursing degree and nine other health programs in the Trinity River Campus East building, FAA airframe and powerplant training at a center at Alliance Airport, and HVAC, welding, lineworker, Toyota T-TEN and diesel training at TCC South. Besides associate degrees and certificates, it awards one bachelor’s degree, in early childhood education.
Career programs and where they are taught
TCC’s health programs are concentrated at Trinity River Campus East, with dental and emergency medical services at Northeast; the trades are mostly at South; aviation is at the Alliance Airport center; and culinary is at Southeast. Each program page lists a 2026–27 total for tuition and fees at the in-county rate of $74 a credit; books, tools and program fees are extra. A dash means the college does not say.
| Program | Awards (credits) | Where | Prepares for | In-county tuition and fees, 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing (ADN) | AAS, 60 | Trinity River East | NCLEX-RN | $4,440 |
| Vocational Nursing | Level 2 certificate, 45 | Trinity River East | NCLEX-PN (Texas LVN) | $3,330 |
| Physical Therapist Assistant | AAS, 66 | Trinity River East | PTA licensure exam | $4,884 |
| Radiologic Technology | AAS, 64 | Trinity River East | Radiography licensure | $4,736 |
| Diagnostic Medical Sonography | AAS, 65 | Trinity River East | RDMS, RVT | $4,810 |
| Surgical Technology | AAS, 60 | Trinity River East | CST | $4,440 |
| Respiratory Care | AAS, 66 | Trinity River East | RRT | $4,884 |
| Central Sterile Processing | Level 1 certificate, 16 | Trinity River East | Exam not named | $1,184 |
| Patient Care Technician | Level 1 certificate, 15 | South; Trinity River East | NHA/NAHP PCT, phlebotomy, EKG | $1,110 |
| Medical Assistant | Level 1 certificate, 40 | South; Trinity River East | Exam not named | $2,960 |
| Ophthalmic Technician | AAS, 60; Ophthalmic Assistant I, 15; II, 32 | Trinity River | – | $4,440 / $1,110 / $2,368 |
| Dental Hygiene | AAS, 68 | Northeast | Dental hygiene licensure | $5,032 |
| Registered Dental Assistant | Level 1 certificate, 25 | Northeast | – | $1,850 |
| EMT | Level 1 certificate, 18 | Northeast | Texas EMT; National Registry | $1,332 |
| Paramedic | Level 1 certificate, 33; EMS AAS, 60 | Northeast | National Registry paramedic | $2,442 / $4,440 |
| Fire Protection Technology | Basic Firefighter certificate, 18; AAS, 60 | Northwest Public Safety Training Center | TCFP-certified academy | $1,332 / $4,440 |
| HVAC/R | Installer award, 11; certificates of 20, 23 and 51; two AAS, 60 | South | – (EPA 608 not named) | $814 to $4,440 |
| Welding Technology | Level 1 certificates, 22 and 20; AAS, 60 | South; Alliance center | – (AWS not named) | $1,628 / $1,480 / $4,440 |
| Pipe Fitter | Level 1 certificates, 18 and 20; AAS, 60 | South | – | $1,332 / $1,480 / $4,440 |
| Electrical Line Technician | Level 1, 25; Level 2, 44; AAS, 60 | South | – | $1,850 / $3,256 / $4,440 |
| CADD and CNC Machinist | CAD award, 14; certificates of 25 to 44; two AAS, 60 | South | – | CNC certificate $1,850 |
| Toyota T-TEN | Level 1, 24; Level 2, 45; AAS, 60 | South | Toyota certifications (dealer sponsor) | $1,776 / $3,330 / $4,440 |
| Automotive Collision Repair | Two Level 1 certificates, 21 each; AAS, 60 | South | – | $1,554 / $4,440 |
| Diesel Technician | Level 1 certificate, 30 | South | – | $2,220 |
| Aviation Maintenance Technology | Level 1, 16; Level 2 Airframe or Powerplant, 45; Airframe and Powerplant AAS, 60 each; enhanced skills, 8 and 12 | Alliance center | FAA A&P exams | $1,184 / $3,330 / $4,440 |
| Professional Pilot | Level 1 certificate; AAS | Alliance center | Pilot and flight instructor exams | – |
| Construction Management Technology | Level 1 certificate; AAS | South | ACCE-accredited | – |
| Culinary Arts; Baking and Pastry | Culinary Arts I, 18; Baking and Pastry, 29; AAS, 60 | Southeast | – | $1,332 / $2,146 / $4,440 |
| Cybersecurity | Level 1, 27; Level 2, 47; AAS, 60 | All campuses | – | $1,998 / $3,478 / $4,440 |
| Game, Simulation & Animation Design | Level 1, 21 and 20; Level 2, 39; AAS, 60 | South | – | $1,554 / $1,480 / $2,886 / $4,440 |
| Human Resources Management | HR Specialist I, 24; II, 42; AAS, 60 | Northeast, Northwest, South, Southeast; fully online | SHRM-aligned curriculum | $1,776 / $3,108 / $4,440 |
| Real Estate | Level 1 certificate, 16; AAS, 60 | Northeast | Texas sales-agent pre-licence courses | $1,184 / $4,440 |
Programmatic accreditation is published for nursing (ACEN; Texas Board of Nursing approval for both nursing programs), Physical Therapist Assistant (CAPTE), Radiologic Technology (JRCERT), Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Surgical Technology, Medical Assistant and Paramedic (all CAAHEP), Respiratory Care (CoARC), Dental Hygiene (CODA), Ophthalmic Technician (International Council of Accreditation) and Construction Management Technology (ACCE). The fire academy is certified by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. The college also lists Anesthesia Technology, Nuclear Medicine Technology, Health Information Technology, Criminal Justice, Paralegal Studies, Hospitality Management, accounting, business, IT, electronics, industrial technician and horticulture awards, and Child Development with the bachelor’s in early childhood education; its program list does not say which campus teaches most of these.
What the main programs cover
Associate Degree Nursing and Vocational Nursing
Both nursing programs are taught at Trinity River Campus East; the ADN has its own selective application. The ADN leads to the NCLEX-RN and the 45-credit vocational nursing certificate to the NCLEX-PN. Applicants should read the program’s notice under Texas law on criminal history, since a record can affect licence eligibility. The 36-credit Nursing Field of Study is for transfer, not licensure. For a BSN, graduates go on to a partner university, for example through the concurrent-enrollment route with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
Aviation Maintenance Technology
Getting in takes four steps: an information session, an application, an orientation and then a waitlist that the college puts at about a year. Training is at the Center of Excellence at Alliance Airport, where three FAA Designated Mechanic Examiners work. Students choose a day schedule, Monday to Friday from 8 a.m., which takes about two years, or an evening schedule, Monday to Thursday until 11 p.m., which takes about three. Shorter enhanced skills certificates in avionics line maintenance and advanced composite technology sit alongside the airframe and powerplant awards. Students buy their own books and tools.
EMT and paramedic
Emergency medical services training is at TCC Northeast in Hurst. Within the 18-credit EMT certificate, the two courses EMSP-1501 and EMSP-1160 are the ones that make a student eligible to test for Texas EMT certification and the National Registry exam. Students who continue choose between the 33-credit paramedic certificate and the 60-credit EMS associate degree. The paramedic program is CAAHEP-accredited and publishes its National Registry results, retention and placement by year, so applicants can compare recent cohorts before they commit.
Toyota T-TEN and collision repair
T-TEN is Toyota’s dealer-linked technician program, taught at TCC South. Students work internships at Toyota dealerships as part of the training, and Toyota’s own certifications need a sponsoring dealer, though a student can begin the program before finding one. The awards stack: a 24-credit general service certificate, a 45-credit service technician certificate and the 60-credit AAS. Collision repair, also at South, splits into metal repair and refinishing certificates of 21 credits each, alongside its own 60-credit AAS.
HVAC/R, lineworker and pipefitting at TCC South
TCC South’s HVAC/R, lineworker and pipefitting programs are organised as ladders of awards. HVAC/R starts with an 11-credit installer award, moves through residential technician certificates, and ends in separate residential and commercial associate degrees. Electrical Line Technician starts with a ground technician certificate before the line technician certificate and the degree; it trains utility line workers, not electricians. Pipe Fitter has basic and advanced certificates and an AAS, and its page says nothing about an apprenticeship or union requirement. HVAC students supply their own hand tools.
Tuition by residency, Fall 2026
TCC charges one rate per credit hour, set by where the student lives, and lists no separate mandatory fees: its program pages call the per-credit total “tuition and fees”. The rates below are for Fall 2026 registration (tuition page updated 21 September 2026). TCC announced a tuition increase that took effect in spring 2025.
| Residency (Fall 2026) | Per credit hour | 12 credits | 60-credit AAS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarrant County resident | $74 | $888 | $4,440 |
| Other Texas resident | $136 | $1,632 | $8,160 |
| Out-of-state | $315 | $3,780 | $18,900 |
| International | $315 | $3,780 | $18,900 |
The 12-credit and 60-credit columns are our calculation. A third attempt at the same course adds $60 per credit. Other charges include a $25 payment plan fee, $29 for the TSI assessment, $5 to $30 for transcripts, and program fees and background checks where a program requires them. The aviation maintenance program estimates about $600 for books and $400 to $1,200 for tools. Niche, using federal data, shows a net price of $4,449 a year.
Federal aid and the net price calculator
TCC takes part in federal student aid, so eligible students apply with the FAFSA. The state’s net price calculator for TCC gives an estimate based on family income. Because most career certificates are billed at the same per-credit rate as degrees, the residency rate matters more than the program: a Dallas County resident pays $136 a credit, nearly twice the in-county rate.
Admissions, applications and schedules
Admission to the college is open, and the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) assessment applies. Several programs then have their own selective application, including nursing, Patient Care Technician, Registered Dental Assistant and Dental Hygiene. Aviation maintenance adds an information session, orientation and a waitlist of about a year. TCC Connect runs online classes and Weekend College, and some programs offer both day and evening schedules: aviation maintenance runs day classes over about two years or evening classes over about three. More than 12,000 of the 47,578 students in spring 2026 were high-school dual-enrollment students.
Accreditation and results
TCC is accredited by SACSCOC; in August 2024 the college announced that SACSCOC had reaffirmed its accreditation for 10 years, and the announcement mentions no sanction or monitoring. The table shows published licensure and completion figures. THECB figures are from the FY2024 licensure report TCC published in July 2025; program figures come from each program’s page.
| Program | Result | Period and source |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing (ADN), NCLEX-RN | 88.3% (234 of 265) | FY2024 THECB licensure report |
| Nursing (ADN), NCLEX-RN first-time | 83% and 87% | Spring 2021 and fall 2021 cohorts (program page) |
| Vocational Nursing, NCLEX-PN | 100% (19 of 19) | FY2024 THECB report; 100% first-time in 2023 (program page) |
| Physical Therapist Assistant, licensure first-time | 91.5% and 95.2% | Two-year averages, 2023–24 and 2024–25 (program page) |
| Diagnostic Medical Sonography, RDMS and RVT | 100% | Each year 2023–2025, 10–11 testers (program page) |
| Surgical Technology, CST | 93% | 2025; 86% in 2024 (program page) |
| Respiratory Care, RRT credential success | 93% | 2023–2025 (program page) |
| Paramedic, National Registry first-time | 90% | 2024; 77% in 2023 (program page) |
| Medical Assistant, exam passage | 88.46% | 2024; 92.86% in 2023 (program page) |
| Aviation maintenance, powerplant and airframe | 83.0% and 77.8% | FY2024 THECB licensure report |
| All licensure exams, college-wide | 90.5% (2,512 of 2,776) | FY2024 THECB licensure report |
| Six-year completion (National Student Clearinghouse) | 38.8% | 2017 entering cohort (TCC success data) |
| Fall-to-fall retention, first-time students | 58.9% | Fall 2024 (TCC success data) |
TCC also reports that 90.2% of 2023 award recipients were working or enrolled within a year, and that it awarded a record 8,676 degrees and certificates in 2024–25. The culinary program reports that only 10% (2022–23) and 7% (2021–22) of its students earned ACF certification within a year.
What changed from 2024 to 2026
- August 2024: TCC announced that SACSCOC had reaffirmed its accreditation for 10 years.
- Spring 2025: a tuition increase took effect; Fall 2026 rates are $74, $136 and $315 per credit.
- Fall 2025: record enrollment of 49,393 students, followed by 47,578 in spring 2026.
- April 2026: TCC and Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County agreed to open the Alliance Employer Hub, a job-matching service, inside the aviation center at Alliance Airport.
- August 2026: TCC announced that ACCE had renewed accreditation of Construction Management Technology at TCC South through February 2034.
- 1 September 2026: the Catering/Private Chef certificate stopped taking new students.
Before you enroll
- Aviation maintenance has a waitlist of about a year, so plan the start date around it.
- The Radiologic Technology page describes its JRCERT accreditation as running through 2026. Ask the program, or check JRCERT, whether it has been renewed before you apply.
- TCC awards no BSN. Its nursing graduates earn an ADN, and a BSN comes from a partner university after or alongside it.
- Some program names do not mean what they sound like. Electrical Line Technician trains utility line workers, not electricians, and TCC has no credit electrician program. Ophthalmic Technician is clinical eye-testing work, not optician training.
- The culinary program does not claim ACF accreditation, and only 7% to 10% of its students earned ACF certification within a year in its two most recent reports.
Job matching at Alliance; no student housing
TCC is a commuter college with no student housing. Since April 2026 students can use the Alliance Employer Hub at the aviation center, where Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County offers job matching, hiring events and employer roundtables. The Toyota T-TEN program includes internships at Toyota dealerships.
What students say on Niche
On Niche, Tarrant County College District has 4.03 out of 5 from 3,549 reviews and an overall grade of B+ (checked 8 October 2026); 72% of reviews give four or five stars. Reviewers most often praise caring, knowledgeable professors, low cost with free tutoring and other support, and helpful transfer advising. Complaints center on little campus or social life at a commuter school, slow or unclear communication from offices such as financial aid and advising, and clunky payment processes. Most of the newest reviews Niche showed dated from December 2024 and January 2025 (one was about seven months old), so they may not reflect 2026, and the reviews cover the whole college rather than particular career programs. We did not check Trustpilot or GradReports.
Sources
Checked 8 October 2026: TCC locations · Programs A–Z (credit) · Tuition and fees, Fall 2026 · FY2024 THECB licensure pass rates · Student achievement data · SACSCOC reaffirmation, August 2024 · Niche
Programs & Courses
Nursing
- Nursing (ADN, RN; Trinity River Campus East)
- Vocational Nursing (LVN; Trinity River Campus East)
Health Sciences
- Physical Therapist Assistant (Trinity River Campus East)
- Radiologic Technology, plus CT, MRI and Vascular Interventional certificates (Trinity River Campus East)
- Diagnostic Medical Sonography (Trinity River Campus East)
- Surgical Technology (Trinity River Campus East)
- Respiratory Care (Trinity River Campus East)
- Central Sterile Processing (Trinity River Campus East)
- Medical Assistant (South, Trinity River Campus East)
- Patient Care Technician (South, Trinity River Campus East)
- Ophthalmic Technician and Ophthalmic Assistant (Trinity River)
- Anesthesia Technology
- Nuclear Medicine Technology
- Health Information Technology
- Healthcare Management
Dental and Emergency Medical Services (Northeast)
- Dental Hygiene
- Registered Dental Assistant
- Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
- Paramedic (certificate and EMS AAS)
Public Safety
- Fire Protection Technology and Basic Firefighter Certification (Northwest Fire Academy)
- Criminal Justice
Skilled Trades (South)
- Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Technology (HVAC/R)
- Welding Technology (also at the Alliance aviation center)
- Pipe Fitter
- Electrical Line Technician (lineworker)
- Computer-Aided Drafting & Design and CNC Machinist Technology
- Construction Management Technology
Automotive (South)
- Automotive Service Technology: Toyota T-TEN
- Automotive Service Technology (campus not confirmed)
- Automotive Collision Repair
- Diesel Technician (certificate)
Aviation, Transportation and Logistics (Alliance Airport)
- Aviation Maintenance Technology (Airframe and Powerplant)
- Professional Pilot
- Logistics & Supply Chain Management
- Nondestructive Inspection, Testing & Evaluation
Culinary and Hospitality
- Culinary Arts (Southeast)
- Baking and Pastry (Southeast)
- Hospitality Management
Technology
- Cybersecurity
- IT: Cloud Computing
- IT: Network Support
- IT: Programming
- IT: Web Applications Programming
- Game, Simulation & Animation Design (South)
- Electronics Technology
Business and Law
- Accounting Information Management
- Business Administration (Business, Management, Marketing, Accounting Assistant)
- Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management
- Human Resources Management (also fully online)
- Real Estate (Northeast)
- Paralegal Studies
Education
- Child Development
- Bachelor of Applied Science in Early Childhood Education and Teaching
Campus Locations
Fort Worth, TX 5301 Campus Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76119
Fort Worth, TX 245 East Belknap Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102
Fort Worth, TX 300 Trinity Campus Circle, Fort Worth, TX 76102
Fort Worth, TX 4801 Marine Creek Parkway, Fort Worth, TX 76179
Fort Worth, TX 2301 Horizon Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76177
Fort Worth (Hurst), TX 828 W. Harwood Road, Hurst, TX 76054
Arlington, TX 2100 Southeast Parkway, Arlington, TX 76018