Mar 28, 2024  
2020-2021 Technical College of the Lowcountry Catalog / Student Handbook 
    
2020-2021 Technical College of the Lowcountry Catalog / Student Handbook [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

TCL History


1711 The Town of Beaufort established.
1861 Union troops occupy Beaufort.
1862 Penn School founded to educate newly liberated slaves.
1868 The Mather School for daughters of former slaves established.
1881 Mrs. Mather deeds the property to the New England Baptist Missionary Association.
1901 First elementary class of three members graduates.
1932 Mather School high school program approved by the South Carolina State Department of Education as Mather Industrial School - 12 grades are now being taught.
1954 The Junior College Department organized to provide increased educational opportunities for high school graduates in the greater Beaufort area and allow male students to enroll.
1955 Mather School accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
1956 Mather Junior College graduates first class.
1966 Mather School one of three schools designated by the Office of Economic Opportunity for a pilot project designed to assist high school graduates in this section of South Carolina to overcome certain academic deficiencies before entering college.
1967 The Board of Trustees of the Mather School, in concurrence with the American Baptist Home Mission Societies vote to offer the campus and buildings to the South Carolina State Board of Education for use as a State Area Trade School and to effect a merger relationship with Benedict College, Columbia, South Carolina.
1968 Mather School concludes 100 years of unique educational service to the greater Beaufort area. The campus is given to the state of South Carolina as an area trade school.
1969 The South Carolina General Assembly transfers the administration of Beaufort Area Trade School from the Department of Education to the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education (SBTCE).
1970 The School becomes known as the Beaufort Regional Training Center.
1972 The Center becomes part of the State Technical College System under the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education and renamed the Beaufort Technical Education Center.
1974 State Board designates a four-county service area - Beaufort, Hampton, Jasper and Colleton counties. A branch campus is established in Hampton County.
1978 The Center is accredited by the Southern Association for Colleges and Schools.
1979 The Center’s name is changed to Beaufort Technical College. Off-Campus military education programs at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island are begun.
1981 Student Support Services, a program offering counseling to high risk, first- generation college students is begun. Part of the federal government TRIO programs.
1982 College receives funding for the Upward Bound Program, part of the federal government TRIO programs. Area high school students selected for special counseling and tutoring.
1983 The College’s Hilton Head Island Center is opened and the Beaufort Technical College Foundation is established.
1984 SACS Reaffirmation.
1985 College receives funding for Talent Search, a program providing career and college counseling in area high schools. Part of the federal government TRIO programs. College becomes one of only three colleges in the state to offer all three of the TRIO programs.
1986 Legislation is introduced to establish an area commission, a local government board for the College.
1987 Dr. Anne S. McNutt appointed President.
1988 College changes name to “Technical College of the Lowcountry” to reflect its four-county service area. The Foundation is also renamed.
1990 Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees are offered.
1991 The Hampton Center is renamed H. Mungin Center in honor of Halbert Mungin, who served as Hampton County’s representative on the TCL Commission from 1987-1990.
1992 Converted from quarters to semesters.
2005 Groundbreaking for the New River Campus
2006 New River Campus opens doors for classes and dedicates campus
2008 Dr. Thomas C. Leitzel appointed President.
2009 College vision statement is implemented.
2009 TCL and The Mather School Coastal/Lowcountry Alumni & Associates dedicate the Wildy Memorial Garden.
2010 Whale Branch Early College High School opens.
2011 College completes facility master plan.
2011 The New River Campus building is named for former commission chairman Angus Cotton
2012 $1.2 million Hampton Campus renovation completed.
2014 Dr. Richard J. Gough appointed President.
2014 TCL Accreditation is reaffirmed by SACSCOC (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges)
2018 TCL celebrates 50 years of community college and 150 years of The Mather School.
2019 TCL breaks ground on the Culinary Institute of the South in Bluffton, S.C.