No tuition increase for Tennessee Tech

(June 23, 2022) - Thanks to exceptional funding from the State of Tennessee, Tennessee Tech will have no increase in tuition and mandatory fees for the upcoming year.

“I'd like to acknowledge a very important decision that will benefit Tech students and families this upcoming year. Tennessee Tech will have a zero increase in tuition and fees next year for all students,” Board of Trustees Chair Trudy Harper said. 

“As a Board, we are delighted to have the support of the Tennessee legislature and governor who understand meeting the needs of students. A zero tuition increase helps students and families keep their budgets in check. At the same time, the state understood the funding required to maintain and improve Tech's ability to serve students, and it provided generous support for our efforts,” Harper concluded.

New Academic Programs

The board approved a new Bachelor of Science in Studio Arts degree program, which will be housed in the School of Art, Craft and Design in the College of Fine Arts. The new degree program is designed to serve students who wish to pursue an art degree, but not the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

“This degree expands offerings in Fine Arts while also capitalizing on the strong technological programming already in place at Tennessee Tech University,” said Provost Lori Mann Bruce. “The new degree program is designed to serve our student population as we experience an increase of transfer students, students entering with significant dual-enrollment credits earned while still in high school, and students who want to earn a degree in the field of art but prefer a Bachelor of Science degree instead of our existing Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.”

According to Bruce, it is typical for a BFA program to have long sequences of courses which can present challenges for students who want to transfer into Tennessee Tech from a community college or another university and still have a timely completion for graduation. The new studio arts degree program is designed for students who want to major in art and have more flexible graduation pathways. This flexibility will allow these students to combine other disciplines – such as computer science, engineering, or business – with art. These combinations can lead to a greater variety of potential career opportunities.

Pending final approval from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission this summer, students will be able to enroll in the new studio arts degree program as early as this fall.  

Over the last academic year, Tech revised or added 33 new academic programs in colleges across campus, according to Bruce. The new offerings include the new Animal Science and Design Studies degrees, along with certificate programs, concentrations, minors and revised degree programs.

Enrollment

Interim Vice President for Enrollment Management and Career Placement Karen Lykins shared an initial report on this fall’s expected enrollment.

Halfway through the summer orientation program, Lykins said that Tech is looking at having more than 2,000 new freshmen this fall, marking the highest first-time-freshmen enrollment since 2013.

“Increased enrollment reflects the efforts of a lot of people at the university who put their energy and knowledge into an enrollment strategy,” Lykins said. “Tech’s Presidential Scholars program, one that guaranteed students scholarships for academic achievement, launched us into an exciting time that changed the way we recruit, market and communicate about the university.”

Preliminary data also show increases in African American and Hispanic students.

In other business

• Savannah Griffin, senior, was selected as the new student trustee, replacing Hannah Willis, effective July 1. Griffin, from Seymour, Tennessee, served as the Student Government Association’s senator from the College of Education during the 2019-2020 school year. In 2020-2021, she served as the SGA Secretary of External Affairs and was elected as the SGA Executive Treasurer in 2021-2022. She has also been the vice president of programming and risk management for Tech’s Panhellenic Executive Council, served as a Student Success Coordinator for Tech’s Flight Path program, and was a Student Orientation Assistant.
• The board heard from Brayden Copeland, a sophomore from Rickman, Tennessee, who recently won the prestigious and highly competitive Goldwater Scholarship. He is only the third Tech student ever to receive it, and the first since 1999.
• The board recognized Winston Morris, professor of tuba, for his more than 50 years of service to students. He is retiring after 55 years teaching at Tech, where he founded the internationally acclaimed Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble.
• The board approved the university’s proposed 2022-2023 budget of $192.45 million.
• The board approved tenure for 10 faculty members, and learned of promotion for 29 faculty members.
• The board approved a new six-year contract for President Phil Oldham, carrying him through the end of the 2027-2028 academic year.
• The board approved the next capital request to the state for 2023-2024: a new academic classroom building on the site of the current Matthews/Daniel Hall, which will be demolished. Crawford Hall will be renovated and connected to the new building. The projected cost for this project is $55.39 million. This new building, renovation and demolition project is dependent on state funding for 2023-2024.

Materials from today’s meeting and the webcast of the full board meeting are available at the board’s website, www.tntech.edu/board.

The board’s next meeting is Oct. 6, 2022.