Wake Technical Community College (Wake Tech) is a public community college in Raleigh, North Carolina. Wake Tech now operates multiple campuses throughout Wake County. The largest community college in North Carolina, Wake Tech is part of the North Carolina Community College System and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
History
Wake Tech was chartered in 1958 as the Wake County Industrial Education Center. The school opened its doors on October 7, 1963, with 304 enrolled students. It originally offered 34 curriculum study programs on campus and 270 industrial training programs.
The college was called the W. W. Holding Technical Institute from 1970 to 1973, Wake Technical Institute from 1974 to 1979, and Wake Technical College from 1980 to 1988.
Wake Tech now operates multiple campuses throughout Wake County and is the largest community college in North Carolina. It is part of the North Carolina Community College System and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The college has one of the largest Associate Degree Nursing programs in the region, and several of its Health Sciences programs use a competitive-entry system because of the large number of applicants for a limited number of seats. Wake Tech also trains the most first responders in North Carolina.
Wake Tech has nearly 100 fully online degree, diploma and certificate programs, placing it among the top online colleges in the nation. The college also offers more than 850 non-degree courses for workforce training, skills building and personal enrichment.
Athletics
Wake Tech established an athletics program in 2008. The college has nine teams: men's baseball, women's softball, women's indoor volleyball, women's beach volleyball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer and esports. Wake Tech launched its competitive esports program in 2020 and won the Spring 2021 NJCAAE Overwatch Championship. Teams from the college later won the Fall 2022 Open Division Rocket League Championship and the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 League of Legends Premier Series Championships.
Wake Tech's mascot is an eagle named Talon, and its colors are navy blue and gold. The college is a member of Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Beginning in 2026, baseball, softball, and men's and women's soccer teams will play at Nomaco Park in Zebulon, North Carolina.
Notable people
Alumni
- Nazmi Albadawi, professional soccer player
- Mike Causey, North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance
- Paul Gervase, professional baseball player
- Mitch Gillespie, former member of the North Carolina General Assembly
- Patricia Hollingsworth Holshouser, First Lady of North Carolina
- Jacqueline Matter, anchor/reporter for Fox5 in Washington, D.C.
- Mike McDermott, former member of the Maryland House of Delegates
- Eric Swann, professional football player
- Austin Warren, professional baseball player
Faculty and staff
- Fred Pickler, actor, author, former deputy sheriff, and former law enforcement instructor
- Scott Ralls, president of Wake Tech and past president of the North Carolina Community College System
- James Roberson, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives; retired senior dean and CCO of Wake Tech's Western Wake Campus
- Dana Trent, full-time Humanities faculty member, author
See also
- List of community colleges
- List of vocational colleges in the United States
- List of college athletic programs in North Carolina
- List of colleges and universities in North Carolina