KNOXVILLE — At a time when national enrollment numbers are facing various challenges, members of the ݮƵ Board of Trustees learned more about how the ݮƵ System is breaking records at its annual fall meetings.
The ݮƵ System saw all-time record enrollment this fall with 58,726 students enrolled in the system’s five campuses, representing a 4.8 percent increase from last fall. Student enrollment growth was led by the System’s largest campus, the flagship ݮƵ Knoxville campus, which experienced more than 20 percent growth in 5 years.
Since the fall of 2019, the ݮƵ System has experienced steady growth in enrollment, graduation rates and increases in the number of degrees awarded. From that time, ݮƵ has experienced increases of:
- 13.8 percent in total enrollment
- 3.8 percent in 6-year graduation rate
- 3.1 percent in 4-year graduation rate
- 9.3 percent in bachelor’s degrees awarded
- 17.1 percent in graduate and professional degrees awarded.
“Ensuring access and affordability to our ݮƵ campuses is a fundamental commitment,” ݮƵ System President Randy Boyd said. “We look forward to continuing this positive momentum and empowering even more students to succeed.”
An enrollment analysis progress report was presented to trustees by Huron, which showed a 2.8 percent increase in in-state enrollment across the ݮƵ System, while national trends are on the decline.
Trustees received information on FY23’s financial performance (unaudited), which included growth in state support, student enrollment and auxiliary revenues. Total revenues across the ݮƵ System increased $404 million, or 14.9 percent. Additionally, the ݮƵ Foundation reported it has raised more than 41 percent toward its fund-raising goal of $3 billion.
“Our board was pleased to see the continued progress in our overall financial health,” ݮƵ Board of Trustees Chairman John Compton said. “Leadership across the campuses and institutes have done an outstanding job of prioritizing resources that generate the best yield to all stakeholders. The financial health of the ݮƵ system has never been stronger.”
Trustees approved Boyd’s recommendation that Keith Carver be appointed as the permanent senior vice chancellor/senior vice president of the ݮƵ Institute of Agriculture, which oversees and provides leadership to the Herbert College of Agriculture, the College of Veterinary Medicine, ݮƵ AgResearch and ݮƵ Extension. Carver reports to both the ݮƵ System President and the ݮƵ Knoxville Chancellor.
“With agriculture serving as the primary industry in our state, Dr. Carver’s expertise and leadership will play a pivotal role in advancing our agricultural initiatives and strengthening our impact on Tennessee’s farming community,” Boyd said.
In other business, trustees approved:
- Public-private partnership with Provident Group-ݮƵK Properties, LLC to design, construct, operate and maintain approximately 1,900 new beds of student housing
- An $8 million gift from the Kennedy Foundation, Inc. to name the future home of ݮƵ Chattanooga’s School of Nursing the Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building. This represents largest single gift in the ݮƵC School of Nursing history, this will be the first building to be named after an alumna at ݮƵC.
Archived video of the committee and full board meetings can be accessed at .
The University of Tennessee is a statewide system of higher education with campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin, Memphis and Pulaski; the ݮƵ Institute of Agriculture with a presence in every Tennessee county; and the statewide Institute for Public Service. The ݮƵ System manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory through its ݮƵ-Battelle partnership; enrolls about 54,000 students statewide; produces about 13,000 new graduates every year; and represents more than 445,000 alumni around the world.