Tarrant County College will begin enrolling students in its first-ever bachelor's degree program on Oct. 12, offering aspiring teachers across Southlake, Grapevine, Colleyville, and Westlake a community-college-priced route to classroom certification without leaving the county.

The Bachelor of Applied Science in Early Childhood Education and Teaching is a two-year upper-division program built on top of an associate degree.

Graduates will be eligible for Texas teacher certification covering either early childhood through third grade or early childhood through sixth grade, according to Community Impact, which first reported the launch on July 28.

The timing matters locally.

Grapevine-Colleyville ISD approved a $1.8 million compensation package in June that set a $60,000 starting salary for certified teachers, funded partly through the state's Teacher Retention Allotment under House Bill 2, according to the Star-Telegram. That salary figure underscores what districts are willing to pay to fill vacancies with credentialed educators.

Statewide, the need is stark. Fifty-five percent of teachers hired in the most recent school year were uncertified, according to Texas Education Agency data reported by KWTX. The share of uncertified educators has more than tripled since the 2019-20 school year, according to a Rice University analysis.

How the program works

Students who already hold an Associate of Arts in Teaching, an Associate of Applied Science in Early Childhood Education, or another associate degree with qualifying electives can enter the bachelor's program directly.

Courses run in eight-week blended sessions mixing in-person and online instruction, with both daytime and evening cohorts planned to accommodate career changers and working parents.

Every course includes a field-based experience. Reading courses pair students with literacy instruction in real classrooms; math methods courses place them alongside elementary teachers to plan lessons and assess student learning.

TCC says students in the bachelor's program pay under the same tuition structure as its associate programs.

"We'll always need teachers, but through our conversations with school districts and education partners, we realized there was an equally important need for quality teachers," said Shereah Taylor-Love, dean of Human and Public Service at TCC. "We want graduates prepared to enter schools and classrooms on day one and make an impact."

Local connections already in place

TCC is not new to the NE Tarrant corridor. The Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Collegiate Academy at TCC earned a National Blue Ribbon School designation from the U.S. Department of Education in 2024, one of 356 schools recognized nationwide.

That existing partnership means local students already move between GCISD campuses and TCC coursework.

Chancellor Elva LeBlanc framed the bachelor's degree as a workforce response, saying TCC is "uniquely positioned to deliver an accessible, affordable pathway for the next generation of educators."

What's next

Prospective students can contact Alma Gallegos at 817-515-4372 for enrollment details. No application deadline has been publicly announced; the first cohort begins Monday, Oct. 12.

Upcoming community dates

• Monday, Oct. 12 — TCC Bachelor of Applied Science in Early Childhood Education first cohort begins
• Through Saturday, Aug. 15 — $10 back-to-school vaccines available for Tarrant County families