General Information

The online College catalog provides the programs of study and course descriptions available through Trinity Valley Community College. It includes information about admission to the College, enrollment, degrees, certificates and academic policies. Although this catalog was prepared on the basis of the best information available at the time of publication, all information, including statements of tuition and fees, course offerings, and admission and graduation requirements, is subject to change without notice or obligation. This catalog does not constitute a contract between Trinity Valley Community College and the student.

Effective Catalog Date

The effective date of this catalog is the beginning of the 2024 fall semester.  A student must graduate by August 31, 2029, to be eligible for graduation under the provisions of this catalog.

History

Henderson County Junior College was founded by a group of Athens civic leaders headed by J. P. Pickens, Orval Pirtle, and public school administrators in late 1945 and early 1946. The creation of Henderson County Junior College was formally approved by voters in the election of May 4, 1946. The first registration was conducted in temporary facilities at Athens High School on June 3, 1946, and three days later, classes began there. The board of trustees provided Henderson County Junior College with its own facilities at the present location of the Athens campus on June 24, 1946. The college moved to its new campus for the beginning of the fall semester, 1946.

Henderson County Junior College began its development into a multi-campus institution with the initiation of an off-campus instructional program at the Texas Department of Corrections, Coffield Unit, in the spring of 1969. Course offerings were subsequently expanded to the following correctional units: Beto I, Powledge Unit and the Michael Unit.

The campus in Palestine was established in 1972 and moved to its present facility three miles north of Palestine in 1975.

The Terrell campus was established in 1973 to serve the northern portion of what had become an enlarged Henderson County Junior College District. The present campus opened in the fall of 1986 with the addition of the  M.L. Risinger LRC building in 2006.

In May of 1983, a new Health Science Center complex was completed in Kaufman for the purpose of providing various health occupation programs.  The health occupation programs were moved to a new Health Science Center in Terrell in 2020.

As a result of the continued regional expansion of the college, the board of trustees authorized and approved a name change from Henderson County Junior College to Trinity Valley Community College in September 1986.

Trinity Valley Community College has a proud heritage of service to the people within the region and is currently engaged in continuous growth and development toward the realization of its full potential in higher education.

Custodian of Records

The registrar is the custodian of all records for currently enrolled students and for all official academic records. The Vice President of Instruction/Chief Academic Officer is the custodian of academic status records.