Tennessee's largest public higher education system, governing 36 institutions that provide technical training, workforce development and degree pathways to nearly 140,000 students a year.
The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) is the state's largest public higher education system, established in 1972 by the Tennessee General Assembly. It governs 36 institutions serving nearly 140,000 students annually across communities throughout Tennessee, and it coordinates policy, programmes and partnerships across the system as a whole.
The system comprises 13 community colleges and 23 Colleges of Applied Technology. The community colleges grant two-year associate degrees and offer transfer pathways aligned with industry needs; the Colleges of Applied Technology provide hands-on technical training for high-demand careers. Between them they deliver more than 400 programmes of study, spanning technical and vocational education, workforce development and training, higher education administration, certificate and degree programme development, and transfer pathway coordination.
Short-term credentials and certificate programmes can be completed in as little as 12 months and are designed around workforce readiness and in-demand skills. Degree and transfer pathways are likewise aligned with industry and labour-market requirements. The system states a commitment to expanding educational access, to student success and workforce readiness, and to a unified approach intended to ensure consistent quality and opportunity across Tennessee's communities, with an overarching mission of driving economic growth through workforce and technical training.
