Tennessee Tech’s fall enrollment reached its highest number since 2015 with some 10,773 students.
Director of Undergraduate Admissions Jacob Cutshall said the university welcomed nearly 2,900 new students this fall following the graduation of the largest class in school history.
“I think what this shows is that this is really credit to all the individuals on our campus,” Cutshall said. “And so I think while you lose that largest graduating class, it is important to keep those same students who took that leap of faith to join you in the first place.”
Cutshall said the university is seeing significant growth from local students in the Upper Cumberland region as well as increases from the Nashville and Knoxville areas. Tennessee Tech is also exploring expansion into out-of-state markets such as Huntsville, Alabama, where the university already maintains a large alumni base.
“Our main focus is always going to be on our Upper Cumberland region and taking care of our backyard students,” Cutshall said. “And so we are seeing just a strong population come from our local students all across the Upper Cumberland.”
The university reported that the College of Engineering experienced the largest year-to-year enrollment increase, followed by nursing and business. Cutshall said these gains are driven by a focus on workforce needs, including the launch of a new bachelor’s degree in artificial intelligence and a recently approved architecture program.
“At Tennessee Tech we really focus on that return on investment,” Cutshall said. “And part of that return on the investment is you know, getting that return, getting that career. So again, I think these areas growing are the ones that are seeing the return on that investment and these are the students that are finding good or well-paying careers in their fields.”
Cutshall said the university has also prioritized making the transfer process seamless to attract students from community colleges and other four-year institutions. This strategy contributed to a year-over-year increase in transfer enrollment by addressing specific student concerns regarding credit transfers and graduation timelines.
“We would love to see our institution get to a 12,000 number,” Cutshall said. “And again, kind to your point, what we have to do is we have to make sure that we are still providing the same service that we promised students. But right now I think our main goal is how can we get to that 12,000 number and again, then we reevaluate and we see how are we serving our students and how can we continue to grow from there.”