It is my pleasure to share TCC’s 2023-24 fiscal year operating budget which was unanimously approved by the District Board of Trustees at their June Board meeting on Monday.

Based on the increased level of state appropriation this year as well as our positive enrollment projections, we will be able to invest in several strategic initiatives that support student success as well as pay raises for full-time College employees. Here are the highlights:

• Continue to hold tuition at its current level for the 12^th straight year.
• Invest a $1.6 million state appropriation into the Tallahassee Collegiate Academy in order to expand access to a college education for 200 high school students.
• Invest $100,000 to expand our successful Math and Writing Champions programs through scholarships and support services that directly benefit students, particularly in critical gateway courses.
• Invest $165,000 in additional funds to double the number of mental health counselors available on campus to our students, and helping implement new investments as designated by students from student fees into contracted mental health services.
• Continue to expand our nursing program thanks to an increase in the PIPELINE program bringing the total investment to $924,068.
• Invest $500,000 to begin three new critical bachelor’s degrees this fall in Elementary Education, Exceptional Student Education, and Business Administration.
• Invest $750,000 to reorganize our academic divisions with a focus on STEM, Associate of Science degrees and other Career and Technical Education programs that have seen rapid growth in recent years.
• Invest $250,000 for the creation of the new Office of Transfer Services to help strengthen and expand our celebrated transfer programs.
• Provide a 6% pay raise for all employees in a regularly established position.
• Invest 1% of the College’s budget on personalized professional development for all faculty, staff and administrators to help position our team for the future.

All of these investments represent years of hard work through our strategic planning efforts. Each initiative mentioned has demonstrated real results and represents a tremendous need on our campus or in our community. I hope you will be as pleased as I am to see our College be able to implement these measures for our students, faculty and staff.

I want to thank our state leaders in the Florida Legislature and Governor DeSantis for their tremendous support of TCC. We would not be able to do what we are doing this year if it were not for the additional dollars that have been allocated. We appreciate the recognition of the tremendous results the College has been able to achieve over the past few years, and the confidence that these funds will go directly to supporting our mission of providing talent for our community and our state.