What We Do 

The Tennessee Board of Regents system is the primary vehicle for higher education access in Tennessee. Our vision is a Tennessee population and workforce with the knowledge and skills to be competitive in the world economy. The Regents system, both as a set of forty-five individual institutions and as a collaborating and integrated system of education, seeks to raise the education and skill levels in Tennessee through quality programs and services, efficiently delivered.

To address this mission, TBR operates three types of institutions:  

• universities, offering four-year and graduate degrees;
• community colleges, offering two-year degrees and technical certificates; and
• technology centers, offering technical certificates.

 Each year, the TBR system serves over 180,000 students in 90 of Tennessee’s 95 counties and credentials 22,000 people, making them job-ready and better prepared to enter or advance in the 21^st century workforce.  Click here for a map showing the locations of TBR institutions. Over 80% of the K-12 teachers who were trained in Tennessee received their degrees from a TBR institution.

 Because of its scope, both geographically and educationally, the TBR system is well situated to address the state’s need for a trained workforce and a better-educated population.  The education attainment levels in Tennessee are currently substantially below the national average, making it difficult for Tennessee to develop and attract the kinds of well-paying jobs relevant to the nation’s knowledge-based economy.  The lack of education attainment stands in the way of the state’s prosperity as well as that of its individual citizens.

The role of the TBR central office is to act on behalf of the board by directing and overseeing on a daily basis the operations of the TBR system. The chancellor is the chief executive of the system and is empowered to act on behalf of the board. The chancellor and his staff serve at the pleasure of the board and perform those duties prescribed by the board. As the board staff, they ensure implementation of board policies and directives, initiate and conduct studies, serve as liaison between the institutions and other state offices, provide certain centralized services, and provide leadership in the management of the system.