By Luqian (Ariel ) Li | Talon Co-Executive Editor

First-year Tallahassee Community College student Mia Jester studies near the Fine and Performing Arts Center building on campus. TCC will become Tallahassee State College effective on July 1. (Photo by Abigail Weissman)

Florida legislators voted unanimously on March 5 to pass  SB 522, which officially changes the name of Tallahassee Community College to Tallahassee State College. This bill was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 27 and the name change will be effective starting July 1.

Tallahassee Community College President Jim Murdaugh makes a speech at the reception and award ceremony of TCC’s Fifth Annual Symposium.

In a bill analysis, the name change is estimated to cost around $500,000 for relevant items such as signage, publication, documentation, and advertising, and it “will be absorbed by the institution, and expended over two fiscal years.” No text in the analysis signals that the name change will increase the tuition for students. 

This name change reflects TCC’s growing academic prestige. With the school now offering four bachelor’s degrees, a name change can potentially better showcase its educational quality. 

In a post on X published on the same day, Gov. DeSantis validated TCC’s educational quality. 

“This college does an outstanding job preparing students for success,” the post said.

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