FORT WORTH, Texas – Hundreds of veterans and military connected students receive help each year through Tarrant County College’s award-winning Veterans Resource Centers, which provide wrap-around services for veterans, active duty, Reserve/Guard and military-connected spouses and dependents. “We work on everything from onboarding to transfers,” said Valerie Groll, who has been a veterans counselor at TCC South for 12 years.
TCC offers veterans flexibility with schedules, technical training, certificates and transfer programs.
The first Veterans Resource Center opened at TCC South in 2013. Last year, the center won the Veterans Education Excellence Award. The award recognizes universities and colleges that provide excellence in education and related services that significantly contribute to the academic success of student veterans and military-connected students.
“Our primary role is to support their academic goals,” said Valerie Groll, who has been a veterans counselor at TCC South for 12 years. Each physical campus has a veterans counselor in addition to fulltime counselors and various part-time counselors who work with TCC students who are not veterans or military connected.
“Transitioning from military to civilian life can be stressful, especially for veterans who may have a service-connected disability,” she said. “The Veterans Resource Centers provide a safe space with staff who understand these challenges and the military culture. Students know they can come and there are people-staff and other veterans who understand.”
Services provided through the Centers:
- Counseling
- Personal
- Supportive
- Small group
- Academic counseling and advising
- Review of VA Education benefits
- Campus resources
- Community resources
- Housing
- Food
- Counseling
- Transition support
- Miscellaneous Funding
- Workshops
- Internships
- Focused scholarships
- Review of military credit for college credit
- Assisting with barriers and stressful life events
As a veterans counselor, Groll knows all too well the stressors veterans face as they start to attend college. “We have veterans that come to TCC who need a mission and for some, a reason to get out of bed every day,” she said. “We provide hope and respect to this very important population.”
Groll also notes the successes and accomplishments of the centers and students who are veterans. “Nationally, veterans obtain degrees at a higher rate and have higher GPAs than non-veterans,” she said.
“TCC provides degrees and certificates that enable people enter the workforce, but it also gives veterans a reason to wake up in the morning,” she said. “I have worked with veterans who have disclosed that they were on their way to complete suicide, but they stopped in the Vet Center. After feeling welcomed and relevant again, they take classes, earn degrees and continue to wake up each day.”
Groll says she considers it an accomplishment when a veteran says, “I have a reason and a purpose because of TCC.” Academia can be an alternative form of therapy for many people.
Celebrating 60 years of excellence and impact in 2025, Tarrant County College is one of the nation’s largest higher education institutions and boasts the second lowest tuition of Texas’ Top 10 community colleges. A comprehensive two-year college with six campuses in Tarrant County and online classes, TCC offers a range of opportunities for learners of all ages and backgrounds, including Associate of Arts and Associate of Applied Science degrees; workforce and economic development programs; technical and skilled trades programs; and customized training for area businesses and corporations.