Florida Senate - 2025                            (NP)    SR 1870
       
       
        
       By Senator Simon
       
       
       
       
       
       3-03218-25                                            20251870__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution commending Tallahassee State College for
    3         its consistent excellence and ongoing commitment to
    4         student success and recognizing April 10, 2025, as
    5         “Tallahassee State College Day” at the Capitol.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, Tallahassee State College (TSC) was established in
    8  1966 to serve Leon, Gadsden, and Wakulla Counties by providing
    9  access to high-quality education for area residents, and
   10         WHEREAS, now in its 59th year, TSC remains steadfast in its
   11  founding principles of ensuring academic excellence, offering
   12  seamless transfer pathways, delivering in-demand workforce
   13  training, and providing robust support for its students and
   14  community, and
   15         WHEREAS, TSC is a proud member of the esteemed Florida
   16  College System, also known as the “Great 28,” which has helped
   17  Florida earn the distinction of being recognized as the No. 1
   18  state for higher education in the years since U.S. News & World
   19  Report began ranking colleges in 2017, and
   20         WHEREAS, TSC welcomes more than 16,000 credit, noncredit,
   21  and continuing education students each year, with nearly 60
   22  percent coming from outside its service area, drawn by the
   23  strength of its more than 100 academic and workforce programs,
   24  and
   25         WHEREAS, TSC achieved a record-high 3-year graduation rate
   26  of 42 percent among its most recent student cohort, surpassing
   27  the national average for peer institutions by an impressive 15
   28  percentage points, and
   29         WHEREAS, TSC is one of the most affordable colleges in the
   30  country, boasting the fourth-lowest tuition rate in Florida,
   31  and, with millions in aid awarded each year, 70 percent of its
   32  students graduate without any student loan debt, and
   33         WHEREAS, TSC was recognized by the United States Department
   34  of Education as the 2-year institution with the highest transfer
   35  rate in the state and the best partnership with a 4-year
   36  institution, Florida State University, which led its students to
   37  achieve the highest bachelor’s completion rate, and
   38         WHEREAS, TSC is consistently ranked as one of the top
   39  public colleges in the nation, earning accolades from the
   40  American Association of Community Colleges, the National
   41  Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, the National
   42  Association for Community College Entrepreneurship, and the
   43  Aspen Institute, among others, affirming the college’s
   44  commitment to excellence, innovation, and student-centered
   45  practice, and
   46         WHEREAS, in 2024, in recognition of its growing impact on
   47  statewide education, the institution was officially renamed
   48  Tallahassee State College, marking a historic milestone in its
   49  evolution as an outstanding institution of higher education,
   50  NOW, THEREFORE,
   51  
   52  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   53  
   54         That April 10, 2025, is recognized as “Tallahassee State
   55  College Day” at the Capitol in recognition of TSC’s contribution
   56  as an exemplary institution of higher education.
   57         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   58  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Jim Murdaugh,
   59  Ph.D., the sixth President of Tallahassee State College, for
   60  inclusion in the college’s historic archives and as a tangible
   61  token of the sentiments of the Florida Senate.