The Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

Beaufort, South Carolina Beaufort ( , a different pronunciation from that used by the city with the same name in North Carolina) is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South ...

, that serves the

Lowcountry The Lowcountry (sometimes Low Country or just low country) is a geographic and cultural region along South Carolina's coast, including the Sea Islands. The region includes significant salt marshes and other coastal waterways, making it an import ...

region of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Campuses

The main campus is located in

Beaufort Beaufort may refer to: People and titles * Beaufort (surname) * House of Beaufort, English nobility * Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England * Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility Places Polar regions ...

along Ribaut Road. Additional facilities are in the New River area (between Bluffton and

Hardeeville Hardeeville is a city in Jasper and Beaufort counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 7,473 as of the 2020 census, an increase of over 150% since 2010. Hardeeville is included within the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufo ...

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...

Parris Island Parris is both a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Parris Afton Bonds, American novelist * Parris Campbell (born 1997), American football player * Parris Duffus (born 1970), retired American ice hockey go ...

, and at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort. The college offers 75 programs of study.

History

TCL traces its roots to the private Mather School, established in 1868 by

Rachel Crane Mather Rachel Crane Rich Mather (February 5, 1823 – February 11, 1903) established the Mather School for daughters of freed slaves in 1867 in South Carolina. The school eventually became the Technical College of the Lowcountry. Biography Rachel Crane ...

to provide education for children of newly freed slaves in Beaufort County, South Carolina. In 1967, the trustees of the school voted to transfer operations of the school to the State of South Carolina, which had been aggressively building up a statewide technical college system. The school was renamed the Beaufort Regional Training Center in 1970, then the Beaufort Technical Education Center in 1972, then Beaufort Technical College in 1979. During that time, the institution began to expand to serve populations in Colleton, Hampton, and Jasper counties. TCL achieved its current name in 1988 to better reflect the four-county area to which the institution had grown to serve.

Student body

TCL enrolls approximately 2,600 students, of which approximately 1,600 are considered full-time equivalent students. Nearly one-half of students enrolled are minorities, and 72 percent are female. Nearly 80 percent receiving some degree of financial aid.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control South Carolina Technical College System Education in Beaufort County, South Carolina Education in Jasper County, South Carolina Education in Colleton County, South Carolina Education in Hampton County, South Carolina Buildings and structures in Beaufort, South Carolina