In January 2010, the General Assembly passed the Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA), a comprehensive reform agenda that seeks to transform public higher education through changes in academic, fiscal and administrative policies at the state and institutional level. At the center of these reforms is the need for more Tennesseans to be better…

"National CrossTalk" is a publication of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The National Center promotes public policies that enhance opportunities for quality education and training beyond high school. The primary purpose of "National CrossTalk" is to stimulate informed discussion and debate of higher…

The Division of Policy, Planning, and Research has assembled the Tennessee Higher Education Fact Book which is a compilation of statistical information pertaining to higher education in Tennessee. The 2009-2010 Fact Book contains tables and charts with data relevant to enrollment, persistence, graduation, tuition, financial aid, lottery…

Describes how the failure of state lawmakers to pass a budget by the start of the fiscal year forced the partial shutdown of Tennessee's public colleges. (EV)

This document contains the 2000-2005 statewide master plan for public higher education in Tennessee developed from a review of literature; reports; interviews with legislators, government officials, business and industry representatives; and analysis of data from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. The master plan outlines the goals and…

This report presents a localized perspective on Tennessee higher education, including: (1) county demographic and economic data; (2) information on public and private colleges and universities located in the county; (3) number of county residents enrolled in Tennessee public institutions; and (4) number of county residents participating in the…

One of the ways public colleges and universities are adjusting to changing financial circumstances is by hiring more part-time faculty and teaching/research assistants than full-time faculty. The possible long-term effects of this change should be watched closely by campus and state leaders. Several cost factors have triggered the trend:…

This report combines reports on the progress of Tennessee's public institutions of higher education toward the goals outlined in Tennessee Challenge 2000 and the progress of independent, regionally accredited higher education institutions toward the same goals. The goals set forth in Tennessee Challenge 2000 were formally established in 1989 to…

In the first decade of the 21st century, the nation, the states, and colleges and universities began to grapple with the challenges of globalization, changing demography, the implications of the digital era, and of a less expansive public sector. Although not a transformative period for higher education, the decade saw significant innovations in…

Long distance education has been a part of instructional delivery for more than one hundred years. Beginning as correspondence study accompanying the establishment of national postal systems, distance education has undergone dramatic change fueled by the rapid and recent explosion of technology. This exponential growth in technology has provided…

In 1977, a federal court ordered the merger of the University of Tennessee in Nashville (UT-N) and Tennessee State University (TSU), a historically black public institution in Nashville. A study of 15 years of effort reveals that the merger did not alter the role of TSU as an institution essentially black in character and mission. (MLF)

"The 2009 Legislative Briefing" is a topical summary of actions during the 2009 legislative sessions that affect education in the 16 SREB states. Topics include: state budgets and the economy; tax and revenue; teacher and faculty pay raises; retirement systems; issues affecting teachers and education leaders; health and safety;…

This paper reports on the results of a research project that focused on the relationship between (1) high school foreign language study and college cumulative grade point average (GPA), and (2) high school foreign language study and college freshman English cumulative GPA in a random sample of Tennessee public college graduates in 1987-88. The…

Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.) Section 49-7-2 (c) (7) requires the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to "submit a biennial report to the governor and the general assembly, commenting upon major developments, trends, new policies, budgets and financial considerations which in the judgment of the commission will be useful to the governor…

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission was created in 1967 by the Tennessee General Assembly to achieve coordination and foster unity with regard to higher education. The Commission coordinates two systems of higher education: the University of Tennessee institutions governed by the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees, and the state…