DeSantis signs bill officially renaming Tallahassee Community College

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation on Wednesday officially renaming Tallahassee Community College to Tallahassee State College.

“I’ve signed legislation to rename Tallahassee Community College to Tallahassee State College, conforming it to other institutions in Florida that are branded as state colleges,” DeSantis said on social media.

“This college does an outstanding job preparing students for success, and Florida is proud to be home to the nation’s finest education system,” he added.

Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Blounstown, and Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, filed the House and Senate version of the bill that would officially change the name of the school.

During the consideration process, the trustees were presented with two other options for the name change, including Tallahassee College and State College of Tallahassee.

The school argued the need to rebrand was justified after the college added three new baccalaureate degree in Business Administration, Elementary Education, and Exceptional Student Education. These additions were on top of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree that has been offered since 2014.

Additionally, the school explained how 60% of their student body was now coming from outside of the service district.

The college, originally founded in 1966, was named Tallahassee Junior College before it was rebranded in 1970 with the community college name.

Hillsborough Community College is the only other public higher education institution in the state of Florida that still uses the name style in their branding.