Meet the Chancellor

Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker is Chancellor of the West Virginia Community and Technical College System (CTCS) and Chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC). Dr. Tucker is the first person to simultaneously hold these two roles – and the first woman to serve as CTCS Chancellor – that guide and oversee policies and initiatives for the state’s two-year community and technical colleges and four-year higher education institutions.

Dr. Tucker has emphasized West Virginia’s Climb initiative, a campaign to equip 60 percent of West Virginians with a certificate or degree by 2030 – nearly doubling the percentage of working-age West Virginians with a high-quality postsecondary credential. Bolstering this effort, under her leadership, West Virginia adopted its first-ever statewide dual enrollment program, launching as a pilot in 2023 to provide free college courses for high school students across the state. Through its expansion in 2025, the LevelUpWV program continues to see significant increases providing a growing number of students the opportunity to align their education with high-demand career pathways such as healthcare, information technology, and engineering.

Dr. Tucker’s colleagues commend her ability to quickly form connections on state and national levels. As a result of her extensive tenure serving with the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) as treasurer in 2022 and chair-elect in 2023, Dr. Tucker was named executive chair of SHEEO in 2024. Through SHEEO, Dr. Tucker works to advance higher education policy and strategy on a national stage.

Recognizing the growing demand to expand student access to educational opportunities, Dr. Tucker currently serves as a member of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), a private nonprofit organization that helps ensure more efficient, consistent and effective regulation of distance education programs. Dr. Tucker also serves on the policy committee, which is a resource to help establish strategy to federal policies.

Under her leadership as CTCS Chancellor since 2015, West Virginia has made enormous strides in taking community and technical education to the next level. A hallmark of her championship on behalf of West Virginia’s students was the State Legislature’s passage of a free community college bill in March 2019. As a result of her hard work and state leaders’ forward-looking investment, the WV Invests program now provides students with last-dollar-in grants that cover the full costs of tuition and fees at the state’s nine community and technical colleges.

Dr. Tucker also has significantly grown and strengthened partnerships with business and industry to create education and training opportunities that meet their workforce demands and connect West Virginians with meaningful careers. She focuses particularly on supporting the dislocated worker population, an effort that was significantly boosted with $10 million in Department of Labor grants to train those who have lost their jobs as a result of West Virginia’s evolving economy and strengthen the state’s IT workforce.

During her time as CTCS Chancellor, the two-year postsecondary education system has made significant strides in expanding the Learn & Earn Program, the state’s leading workforce, economic development and educational partnership that allows students to earn their credentials while working for employers with current workforce needs. In addition, under her leadership, West Virginia has increased student success by transforming the delivery of remediation courses, gaining national recognition from Complete College America for developmental education reform.

Also under her leadership, the state made a historic $209 million investment for deferred maintenance projects across West Virginia’s system of public higher education, paving the way for projects that will strengthen campuses for years to come.

Dr. Tucker became Interim Chancellor of HEPC in April 2019 and Chancellor in June 2020.Prior to becoming Chancellor of both systems, Dr. Tucker served as Director of Planning and Research for the HEPC and CTCS. She was selected by national peers to be a member of the Executive Committee of Fellows for Complete College America, and she sits on numerous boards, including the West Virginia Jobs Investment Trust Board, NASA EPSCoR Executive Board, Faculty Merit Board, SHEEO, and the NC-SARA Board.

Dr. Tucker completed her doctorate at the School of Education at the University of Michigan in 2010. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, she was a behavioral specialist and general education teacher in an adolescent girls group home. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Harvard University, and a M.A. in Quantitative Research Methodology from the University of Michigan.