Community College

Located in the Great Smoky Mountains Region of East Tennessee, Walters State Community College is a public two-year institution established in 1970. To provide access and services throughout its area of responsibility, the college has established campuses or facilities in Claiborne, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Jefferson, and Sevier counties, and also serves students from Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins, and Union counties. The college offers 20 programs leading to associate degrees and 16 programs leading to technical certificates.

Volunteer State Community College is located in Gallatin, Tennessee, which is 30 miles northeast of Nashville. Popularly known as Vol State, the college was founded in 1971. A 100-acre tract of land on Nashville Pike was chosen for the new campus. The property was deeded to the State on December 4, 1969. The new college was named Volunteer State Community College, and this was approved by the Tennessee Board of Regents on July 2, 1970. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the first four buildings were held on November 5, 1970.

Roane State Community College is a two-year college providing transfer curricula, career-preparation programs, and non-credit education. Founded in 1971, Roane State serves a diverse eight-county service area that includes Roane, Anderson, Loudon, Campbell, Scott, Cumberland, Morgan, and Fentress counties. The college provides health sciences education in Knox and Blount counties. In addition to its main campus in Harriman, Roane State also has campuses in Crossville, Huntsville, Jamestown, Knoxville, LaFollette, Lenoir City, Oak Ridge and Wartburg.

Pellissippi State Community College was founded in 1974 as State Technical Institute at Knoxville. Enrollment has grown from 45 students to nearly 11,000 students today (2018-2019). With five campuses, the college serves Knox and Blount counties in East Tennessee. The college’s students come from around the world, however. In the fall 2018 semester, for example, 116 International students from 32 countries were enrolled at the college, along with students from 27 states.

Since it first opened in 1970, Nashville State Community College has been a vital part of Nashville. Initially named Nashville State Technical Institute, the college had 398 students and offered only five associate's degrees. Graduation was held in the parking lot. White Bridge Road, where the main campus is still located, had only two lanes and very few businesses. As the White Bridge Road area grew over the years, so did the college. In 1984, Nashville State joined the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) system of state universities and community colleges.