If you are a student at Tarrant County College or planning to enroll, there is a whole ecosystem of scholarship money available to you that most students never fully take advantage of. Between the TCC Foundation’s scholarship program, the Tarrant To and Through Partnership, the Stars of Tomorrow program, the TCC Book Scholarship, state-funded nursing scholarships, and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board programs, the college has built one of the more comprehensive financial aid landscapes available at a two-year institution in Texas.
This guide is going to walk you through every major scholarship opportunity available to TCC students for the 2026/27 academic year. We will cover what the TCC Foundation is and how its scholarship program works, the specific programs and scholarship tracks available, who is eligible for each one, what documents you need, the exact deadlines, and a clear step-by-step walkthrough of how to apply. Whether you are a high school senior planning to attend TCC next fall, a current TCC student who has never applied for scholarship funding, or an adult returning to college after time away, this guide has the information you need to get started.
About Tarrant County College
Before getting into the scholarships themselves, it helps to understand a little about Tarrant County College and the community it serves, because the college’s mission shapes every aspect of how its scholarship programs are designed.
Tarrant County College District, commonly known as TCC, is a public two-year community college system headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It operates across six campuses throughout Tarrant County, including the Northeast Campus, Northwest Campus, South Campus, Southeast Campus, Trinity River Campus, and TCC Connect, which is the district’s online campus. Together, these campuses serve one of the most diverse and populous metropolitan regions in the state of Texas, including the cities of Fort Worth, Arlington, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, and surrounding communities.
TCC is widely regarded as the premier two-year college choice in North Texas. It offers affordable tuition, open access admissions, and a wide range of programs including transferable associate degrees, workforce certificates, technical certifications, and continuing education options. It has been named a Top 150 Community College in the Nation and consistently earns recognition for its support of veterans, first-generation college students, and non-traditional learners.
The college’s student body reflects the demographic makeup of Tarrant County itself, with a large proportion of students who are the first in their families to attend college, students balancing work and family responsibilities alongside their studies, and students from communities where access to higher education has historically been limited. This context is important because TCC’s scholarship programs are explicitly designed to remove financial barriers for these students, and they are far more accessible than many people initially assume.
The TCC Foundation: The Engine Behind Most TCC Scholarships
The largest and most comprehensive source of scholarship funding for TCC students is the Tarrant County College Foundation, known as the TCC Foundation or TCCF. The Foundation is a separately incorporated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to invest in the success of TCC students through philanthropy and community partnerships.
The TCC Foundation is funded by contributions from individuals, families, businesses, corporations, and TCC employees who believe in the transformational power of education and want to support students who might not otherwise be able to complete their degrees. Contributions come in many forms including outright gifts of cash, stocks, securities, major pledges paid over multiple years, corporate matching gifts, bequests, trusts, and TCC payroll deductions.
The Foundation administers a variety of scholarship types including general Foundation scholarships, community scholarships, faculty and staff development scholarships, school district partnership scholarships, and named endowed scholarships. For many TCC students, Foundation funding is the difference between being able to finish their degree and having to drop out due to financial pressure.
The TCC Foundation uses a centralized online scholarship application platform called AcademicWorks to manage all of its scholarship programs. This platform uses an automatic matching system, which means that once you submit your General Application, the system reviews your profile and matches you to every scholarship in the portfolio for which you meet the stated criteria. You do not need to individually hunt down and apply for each scholarship one by one. The system does the heavy lifting of identification for you.
Key Dates and Deadlines for TCC Scholarships 2026/27
There are several different scholarship programs at TCC with their own distinct timelines. Getting these dates wrong or missing them is the most common and most preventable reason students miss out on funding they would have otherwise received. Here are the critical dates for the 2026/27 academic year.
TCC Foundation Scholarship Application Opens: February 16, 2026 (AcademicWorks portal) and March 2, 2026 (TCC Foundation website)
TCC Foundation Scholarship Application Deadline: April 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.
FAFSA or TASFA Filing Recommended Deadline: As early as possible after October 1, 2025; priority by March 15, 2026
Award Notifications Begin: Starting August 1, 2026 via your my.tccd.edu email address
Students Can View Award Status in Portal: After mid-August 2026
Stars of Tomorrow Application: Apply through TCC admissions and financial aid process; available on a rolling basis for qualifying new students
T3 Partnership Applications: Processed through the T3 Partnership separately; contact TCCT3@tccd.edu for current cycle details
The April 15, 2026 deadline for the TCC Foundation scholarship application is firm. This includes both the application itself and all required references. The Foundation does not accept incomplete applications or late submissions of reference letters after this date. Plan accordingly and give yourself and your referees ample lead time before this cutoff.
TCC Foundation Scholarship Program: How It Works
The TCC Foundation scholarship application is open annually in the spring semester, typically from February or March through mid-April, for awards that are applied to the upcoming fall semester. Students who are offered a scholarship receive notification starting on August 1, and can log into their scholarship application after mid-August to check their award status directly in the portal.
Scholarship awards from the TCC Foundation are applied directly to your student account at TCC. The funds are first applied toward tuition and fees. If there are remaining scholarship funds after all tuition and fee balances have been paid, those remaining funds are refunded to the student to help cover other educational expenses such as textbooks and supplies. This makes the Foundation scholarship a genuinely comprehensive award that goes beyond just covering classes.
It is also important to know that you can receive both financial aid and a TCC Foundation scholarship at the same time, provided you have enough unmet financial need to accept both awards. Having a Foundation scholarship does not automatically reduce your financial aid in most cases, but it is worth confirming your specific situation with the TCC Financial Aid Office.
All TCC Foundation scholarships are exclusively for students who are currently attending or plan to attend TCC. You cannot use a Foundation scholarship at another institution. Applications are reviewed and scored by volunteers who serve on the scholarship selection committee, which means the evaluation process is community-driven and reflects the values and priorities of people who are genuinely invested in the success of TCC students.
Types of Scholarships Available Through the TCC Foundation
The TCC Foundation administers several distinct categories of scholarships. Understanding these categories helps you know what to expect when you see your list of matched scholarships in the portal after submitting your General Application.
General Foundation Scholarships (TCCF Scholarship Fund)
The TCCF Scholarship Fund is the general pool of scholarship funding available to all TCC students regardless of their specific field of study, campus, background, or program. These awards are funded collectively by the wide range of donors who contribute to the Foundation, including individual community members, TCC employees, and businesses throughout Tarrant County. This is the broadest scholarship category in the Foundation’s portfolio, and it is the category that most new applicants will be matched with first when they submit their General Application.
The Foundation is explicit that no gift is too small from donors, and that collectively every contribution goes toward helping hardworking students who might not otherwise be able to afford higher education. This ethos is reflected in the accessibility of the general scholarship program, which is designed to reach as many students as possible rather than reserving all funds for a small number of elite applicants.
Named and Endowed Scholarships
Many scholarships in the TCC Foundation portfolio are named awards established by specific donors or donor families to honor individuals, support particular student communities, or fund students pursuing specific career paths. Named scholarships can be established at a minimum gift level of $6,000, which creates an award available for up to three academic years before needing replenishment. Permanently endowed scholarships, which provide funding in perpetuity, can be established at a minimum gift level of $30,000.
Named scholarship donors and their family or business representatives are invited to an annual celebration event where they get to meet and visit with the students who have received their scholarship. This personal connection between donors and recipients is one of the distinguishing features of the TCC Foundation scholarship model and is one reason why thank-you letters and genuine engagement from scholarship recipients matter so much to the Foundation community.
The variety of named scholarships in the TCC Foundation portfolio covers an enormous range of student situations, including awards for students in specific programs, students from specific high school districts in Tarrant County, students in health sciences, students pursuing technical workforce certifications, students who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, and students from communities facing particular economic challenges. The automatic matching system in the Academic works portal will identify all named scholarships you qualify for based on your application profile.
Community Scholarships
Community scholarships are awards funded by organizations, civic groups, and community foundations that have partnered with TCC Foundation to support specific types of students or students from specific communities within Tarrant County. These scholarships often have geographic or demographic criteria tied to the donor organization’s area of focus. For example, some community scholarships are designated for students from specific cities or school districts within Tarrant County, while others support students from particular cultural or professional communities.
School District Partnership Scholarships
TCC Foundation has established scholarship partnerships with several school districts in Tarrant County that allow graduating seniors from those districts to access dedicated scholarship funding when they enroll at TCC. These partnerships reflect TCC’s commitment to its relationship with the K-12 educational pipeline across the region and provide an additional layer of financial support specifically for students transitioning directly from high school into TCC programs.
Faculty and Staff Development Scholarships
The TCC Foundation also administers a separate track of scholarships designed to support the professional development of TCC faculty and staff members who are pursuing additional education or certifications. These scholarships are not available to regular students and operate under a separate application and review process within the Foundation structure.
The Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship: A Key Program for New High School Graduates
The Stars of Tomorrow program is one of the most important scholarship opportunities available to incoming TCC students who are graduating from high school in Tarrant County. It is administered by TCC’s Student Financial Aid Services and is separate from the TCC Foundation scholarship process, though it works alongside Foundation funding in many students’ overall financial aid packages.
The Stars of Tomorrow program provides up to $1,000 per semester to eligible graduating high school students from Tarrant County who enroll at TCC. To qualify, you must meet all of the following conditions.
You must be a resident of Tarrant County for tuition purposes. You must graduate in the top 50 percent of your class from a public or private high school, or be exempt from Texas Success Initiative (TSI) requirements through approved standardized tests. For home-schooled students and students from schools that do not use a class rank system, eligibility is based on TSI exemption through approved testing. You must enroll at TCC within one year of your high school graduation. Your family income must be at or below $120,000 as reported on your FAFSA or TASFA.
Students who are not immediately eligible for the Stars of Tomorrow award in the fall semester have a second chance. If you enroll in TCC in the fall semester for a minimum of nine credit hours and successfully pass at least six of those hours, you become eligible to apply for the award in the spring semester. Students who graduate in May are eligible to receive benefits starting in the fall semester following their graduation.
To access the Stars of Tomorrow award, you need to apply for admission to TCC and complete either the FAFSA (Federal Application for Federal Student Aid) or the TASFA (Texas Application for State Financial Aid) by the applicable deadline. The Stars of Tomorrow award is automatically evaluated as part of your financial aid process once you have completed these steps. There is no separate Stars of Tomorrow application form beyond the standard admissions and financial aid process.
The Tarrant To and Through (T3) Partnership Scholarship
The Tarrant To and Through Partnership, universally referred to as T3, is one of the most significant scholarship programs in all of Tarrant County and represents a major commitment to college access for students across the region. TCC is one of the T3 partner institutions, and T3 Scholars attending TCC receive a “last dollar” tuition-only scholarship that covers any remaining tuition costs after all Pell Grants and other federal, state, and institutional aid have been applied.
This is an important distinction to understand clearly. The T3 scholarship at TCC is a last dollar award, which means it fills the gap between what your other financial aid covers and what your actual tuition costs at TCC. It is not a first-dollar program and does not provide cash for living expenses. But for students who qualify, it can effectively mean that tuition at TCC is fully covered after Pell and other aid are applied, which is an extraordinary benefit.
T3 Scholars attending TCC can receive the last dollar scholarship for up to eight consecutive semesters, not including summers, or until the completion of a certificate or associate’s degree, whichever comes first. This structure is designed to get students through their full program without financial interruption.
To be eligible for the last dollar scholarship component of T3 at TCC, you must have a family income of $120,000 or less. T3 Scholars who do not meet the income requirements for the last dollar scholarship are still eligible for the full range of other T3 program supports, including persistence coaching, onboarding programs, and signature events. The T3 Scholars program as a whole is designed to support students all the way through their educational journey, not just with money but with advising, community, and accountability structures that increase the likelihood of completion.
T3 Scholars at TCC are also required to meet with a designated T3 Persistence Coach at least twice per semester during their first year, attend T3 Signature Events held once each semester in fall and spring, and complete community engagement requirements in their third year. These participation requirements are part of what makes the T3 program more than a simple financial aid award. It is a structured support community.
For information about T3 scholarship eligibility at TCC, email the college directly at TCCT3@tccd.edu.
The TCC Book Scholarship
The TCC Book Scholarship is a smaller but genuinely practical financial aid award that helps TCC students cover the cost of textbooks, one of the most significant and often overlooked out-of-pocket educational expenses for community college students. The award provides $500 per semester to eligible students.
Eligibility for the TCC Book Scholarship requires that your Student Aid Index (SAI) from your FAFSA is greater than $4,401. This threshold is intentionally set to serve students who have a moderate level of financial need but who may not qualify for the most need-based programs that prioritize students with SAI values at or near zero. The Book Scholarship helps fill the middle-income gap for students who are not the most financially needy by traditional measures but who still struggle with the practical costs of being in school.
To find out if you are eligible for the TCC Book Scholarship and to understand how it interacts with your broader financial aid package, contact TCC’s Student Financial Aid Services office directly.
State of Texas Nursing Students Scholarship Program
TCC participates in the State of Texas Nursing Students Scholarship Program, which is a state-funded initiative designed to address the ongoing healthcare workforce shortage in Texas by providing financial support to students pursuing nursing careers. The program promotes both healthcare and educational needs by offering scholarships to eligible Texas residents who are enrolled in or have been accepted into one of two specific nursing programs at TCC.
The two eligible programs are the Associate of Applied Science in Nursing (AAS in Nursing) and the Certificate of Licensed Vocational Nursing (LVN Certificate). Both of these programs lead to professional nursing credentials that are in high demand across Tarrant County, North Texas, and the state as a whole. For students who are committed to a nursing career and who meet the eligibility requirements of the state program, this scholarship represents a meaningful source of additional financial support layered on top of whatever Foundation and federal aid they may already be receiving.
For full details about the Nursing Students Scholarship Program including specific eligibility requirements and award amounts for the current cycle, refer to the official program fact sheet available through TCC’s Financial Aid Services office or the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board website.
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Programs
Beyond TCC’s own scholarship and institutional aid programs, TCC students can also access a wide range of exemptions, waivers, scholarships, and other aid programs administered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). The THECB oversees state-level financial aid programs that are available to eligible Texas students at public colleges and universities across the state, and TCC participates in all applicable THECB programs.