Tacoma Community College — Local services in Tacoma

Just graduated and am so thankful I do not have to deal with this school anymore. The teachers are fantastic, Ionly had two that I would not recommend. Every other aspect of the school is terrible. It seems they forgot that they are selling a product because they treat their customers with disregard. Every administrative department there would never survive in business if they were an actual business. Fortunately for them they get government funding (financial aid for students) and are members of a oligopoly in a relativity small market. Literally every department is rife with poor service and lackluster performance. Something as simple as getting your parking permit isn't easily explained to the customer. I'm still not sure if you have to park in visitor parking on your way to the parking permit office or in a regular parking spot where you'll get a ticket without the permit. The fact I don't know after two years just goes to show how much focus they put on educating their customers on procedures. I actually heard an employee say you're all adults you need to figure it out. I can tell you as a business professional, adults who pay money for services usually get treated very well because that's how companies stay in business. I went back to school in the hopes of getting my education to catch up to my work history. I honestly believe they should be paying me or another experienced business professional to teach them how to lean out their processes with focus on the customer. I had to help fellow students out with simple tasks like financial aid disputes, because the process is not published. I paid cash for my entire education and can only imagine what it's like for students who have to deal with the financial aid department every semester. Once I paid for a class and got transferred into another with a teacher who had bad reviews, I had to go to the Dean of that department just to get transferred out of a class I didn't sign up for. The website is mostly useless except for a couple good tools, but good luck finding those tools. Simple information is not pushed out to the students like it should be. I had to call the school to find out when I get my associates degree after graduating because that information is not published anywhere or communicated to the students. Graduate early June get your associates in late August, two and a half months later. This is another example of the little emphasis they put on what the customer actually values. I truly believe they do not care about the customer experience and what we want. They only care about what is easiest for them to manage, and they are not good at it. I've never attended another college and this just might be par for the course, but be prepared, the service here is terrible. As I have stated before the teachers are actually wonderful and you will learn good skills from them. It's to bad they have to work for such a dysfunctional...

I have had two and half years of experience at TCC, and maintained a 3.4 GPA. Some teachers are literally the worst, i had to drop a English class because the "Professor" if you even want to call them that, was against veterans, a vet had talked to her during class about having to get deployed and the teacher up right told her that there would be no way of even hope for passing the class, then there is teachers like professor jared who you can't even understand even if they are talking in context, and professors like Professor brewer who are actually trash when it comes to teaching, all that they do in class is gripe about their life experiences and change requirements on the fly, i.e. a five page paper due the next day becomes a seven page paper without any warning. the finial aid in the school is also a joke, if you have applied and got all of your paperwork already done in advance they are little to no help with actually getting aid, and their enrollment services office can be summed up busy unguided and disorganized, i have given them my transcripts from high school three times and each and every time they have "lost it". the student consoling can sometimes be off assistance but mostly they either are just following papers and course outlines rather than taking in input from the students. Their websites are also a joke, in-order to even get to their classes and class information you must jump through at times up to six different login screens and must be able to navigate through the webpages efficiently. even the student services struggle with trying to accurately navigate their harsh websites. their online classes also have a few hidden charges that aren't put forward at the entry to the class, you find out about a month into the quarter that you have charges to your tcc account that totals to 30 USD per online class in unexpected charges, in short i would not refer any of my family to take classes with about half of their staff and that they look into taking classes else where. a honestly poor academic environment even disregarding all physical aspects and layouts for this school which i might add are not any better than the teachers or the websites, the student building has a horrible layout and the buildings mix between semi-new and almost crumbling at the seems, a few of the math buildings has leaks in the roofs and cracks down the walls, where is the new building has a indoor cycling fountain and great decor, the engineering building was designed with the main idea of having it stand for a long period of time however the square design makes erosion a great risk to the...

Second year student here, close to graduating with an associates in Networking and Convergence Technology. TCC is a great school with some obvious flaws.

Pros: Let's start out with the good. The quality of education is the foundation on how any school should be judged. To which I would say TCC is a great place of learning and study. Their professors are locally employed, highly knowledgeable, and helpful. The classes are set up with work and home life in mind allowing for flexible scheduling and course loads. All this is enhanced by the fact cost of attendance is cheap. The staff are hardworking and dedicated to making this a nice place to be. This is a school with good education, at an affordable cost, and focus on giving back to the community.

Cons: There are several flaws I can think of. The campus is not in an ideal location, does not have a good layout, and does not look aesthetically pleasing. Apart from a few set pieces the buildings vary between very new and old, same with the roads. It feels thrown together and stuck near large busy roads. Next, and this one is important, they lost some of my paperwork pushing back my application for financial aid, losing me thousands of dollars. They assured me this is a rare occurrence and help me set up a payment plan, but that still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The TCC sports teams and clubs are also nothing noteworthy. Student parking can be a pain during the crowded winter months.

Neutral: I am conflicted on the fast moving low-credit quarterly system they have. It can be annoying and lead to less education as some classes fly by so fast you hardly have time to study and understand the subject before moving on to another. The shortest time I passed a class was in 7 weeks. Though this is not a bad thing for those simply chasing a piece of paper, as it is a great way to rack up credits and certifications.

Overall I would give it a 3.5/5 rating, though because Google doesn't allow that I will give it a 3 star, because it was a cheap cost for great education even if it lacks in all other regards. The school really is a stepping stone to greater things, whether that be an entry wage job or transferable to a university. I would recommenced it, especially if you are planning on university, as it can save you...