Student enrollment is up this fall at Tennessee’s community and technical colleges

Student enrollment is up 4 percent over fall 2024 at Tennessee’s community colleges and 6 percent at the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCATs), based on preliminary fall 2025 enrollment numbers presented to the Tennessee Board of Regents during its quarterly meeting Thursday and Friday.

Enrollment at the state’s 13 community colleges totaled 79,522 two weeks into the fall 2025 semester – the largest since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. There are increases across three major categories: enrollment of adults 25 and older is up 6 percent over fall 2024, first-time freshmen up 5 percent, and dual enrollment by high school students is up 3 percent. Detailed enrollment numbers for the TCATs, which started their fall trimester later, will be presented when they are completed.

Fall 2025 enrollment by community college:

• Chattanooga State, 7,893
• Cleveland State, 3,078
• Columbia State, 6,083
• Dyersburg State, 3,103
• Jackson State, 4,039
• Motlow State, 6,087
• Nashville State, 8,087
• Northeast State, 6,222
• Pellissippi State, 9,797
• Roane State, 5,313
• Southwest Tennessee, 6,280
• Volunteer State, 7,536
• Walters State, 6,004

Staff also reported that the number of awards – degrees, certificates and other credentials – conferred to community college students completing for-credit programs also increased by 6 percent during academic year 2024-25 over the previous year. A total of 14,860 awards were conferred during the year.

The Board of Regents, which governs the state’s public community colleges and TCATs, held its quarterly meeting Thursday and Friday, Sept. 18-19, at the new Knox Regional Health Science Education Center in Knoxville. Just before the board’s committees convened Thursday, Roane State Community College and TCAT Knoxville celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony the significant completion of 130,000-square-foot health education center they will jointly staff and operate. It is expected to educate more than 8,000 students every year in health science programs offered both colleges. At the start of Friday’s full board session Roane State President Chris Whaley and TCAT Knoxville President Kelli Chaney and leaders and students from their colleges presented updates on student success activities on their campuses.

In other action, the board approved a new strategic plan for the next decade. The plan, “TBR 2035: Building Tomorrow’s College,” is built on three core foundational pillars – Open Access, Completion, and Community and Workforce Development – and identifies three strategic priorities, with an overarching goal of student success:

• Connect academic pathways and student experiences to career opportunities.
• Improve the college processes that shape the student’s journey by centering student success.
• Collaborate within the system and with partners to maximize our resources and our efforts.

The plan fleshes out the priorities with key actionable practices that exemplify the core pillars and give life to the priorities, and tops out with specific measures of progress toward the goals. The full plan with more details will be published soon as an interactive infographic on the TBR website.

The new plan was drafted through nearly a year’s work by a steering committee of board members; college presidents, leadership and students; business, industry and K-12 partners, and other stakeholders. It builds on the 2015-25 plan while sharpening its focus with actionable priorities channeling TBR’s work toward what matters most: empowering colleges and students to thrive. 

The board also heard other reports of systemwide initiatives, and approved revisions to TBR policies and bylaws, faculty emeriti designations for retired distinguished faculty members, and other agenda items.

Board members approved the system’s priorities for state budget funding for next year, including:

• Safety and security expansion.
• Marketing for adult student recruitment.
• Electronic learner records, which enable students to securely compile and share a verified record of their skills and credentials in an easy-to-use electronic format (to replace grant funding that is expiring).
• Expansion of industry training prioritized by state officials, including the nuclear, aviation, artificial intelligence (AI), and ceramic tile industries.
• Eight community college capital projects across the state, approved by the board in June totaling $472.1 million.

The committee and board meetings were livestreamed and are archived on the TBR website at https://www.tbr.edu/board/september-2025-quarterly-board-meeting. The complete committee and board agendas, an executive summary and board materials are posted at the same meeting link above.

The board approved new policy Development and Operation of Global Studies Programs, replacing the former Development and Operation of Campus International Education Programs policy, reflecting the transition of the Tennessee Center for International Studies at Pellissippi State Community College into the TBR Office of Global Studies at the system office. Revisions were approved for two TBR policies: Technical College Program Review and Approval, to provide greater flexibility and responsiveness, and Development and Approval of Policies, to clarify when a college policy may vary from or supplement a system policy, to reflect current practices, and to condense and simplify the policy. The board also approved various revisions to TBR bylaws. Details are in the board materials available at the meeting link above.

In concluding action, the board approved:

• Resolutions of appreciation for the service of two outgoing board members – Regent Charlie Hatcher, the state agriculture commissioner who has served on the board since 2019, and Regent Danni B. Varlan, who has served on the board since 2010.
• Board quarterly meeting dates and locations for 2026: March 4 at the TBR System Office in Nashville, June 11-12 at Nashville State Community College, Sept. 17-18 at the new Bedford County Higher Education Center, and Dec. 8 at the TBR System Office.