Wake Technical Community College (Wake Tech) is a public community college in Raleigh, North Carolina. Its first location, now the Southern Wake Campus, opened in 1963. 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.
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. Its president is Scott Ralls.
Wake Tech is located in Wake County and Raleigh, North Carolina. It has seven campuses, one training center, online education and training courses and relationships with four Cooperative Innovative High Schools, as follows:
Wake Tech offers associate degrees, diplomas and certificates in 64 programs across 13 career fields. Its most popular degree programs are Cybersecurity, General Business Administration, Accounting & Finance, Computer Programming & Development and Graphic Design. 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.
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.