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Education

With top primary/secondary schools, three community colleges, two 2-year colleges and six 4-year colleges and one of the most respected university programs in the country, East Tennessee offers a topnotch education for everyone. Each of our K-12 schools is wired to the Internet. Our programs, such as the Education Edge Partnership and our 21st Century Schools Program (a national model for school reform) are the results of our commitment to quality education.

Primary and Secondary Education

Several of East Tennessee's schools annually rank among the nation's best in a variety of categories and two of the state's top three school systems are in the region.

Fifty-four percent of eighth-grade math teachers in Tennessee public schools have computers in their classrooms, the highest percentage in the nation.

Tennessee is home to the acclaimed 21st Century Schools Program, which provides needed resources to schools in return for accountability. The process includes student assessment, performance criteria and clear lines of authority to effectively measure how teachers, principals and superintendents are doing their jobs. Greater flexibility for local schools, reduced class size, mandatory kindergarten, and strengthened academic, vocational and computer enrichment classes are just a few of the advantages provided by the program.

Community Colleges

The Knoxville region is served by three community colleges from the Tennessee Board of Regents System with campuses throughout the region.

• Pellissippi State Technical Community College is one of the most modern technical community colleges in the country. Designed to prepare students for technical or paraprofessional employment opportunities, PSTCC is ranked in the top 50 community colleges nationwide in the production of computer science technology graduates.
• Roane State Community College is recognized for accessibility, with education centers in five counties and a major branch campus in Oak Ridge as well as the main campus in Roane County. Known for excellence in health sciences, Roane State is also recognized for its focus on business management.
• Walters State Community College is a comprehensive community college with four campuses serving 10 East Tennessee counties. In addition to a complete community college curriculum, Walters State provides a variety of valuable services to new and expanding industry.

University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee, with its main campus in Knoxville, offers 100 major programs in 15 different colleges. Many of the 1,200 faculty members are nationally and internationally recognized for their contributions to research and teaching. The university has fifteen colleges and schools with major research programs in the fields of energy, polymer engineering, advanced and composite materials, biomedical sciences and geological sciences.

• With more than 26,000 undergraduate and graduate students, UT (Knoxville) is both the oldest and the largest university in Tennessee. Students come from all 50 states as well as 95 foreign countries.
• Eight UT programs are listed in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings of top graduate programs: logistics, social work, law, education, audiology, civil engineering, materials engineering, and physical therapy.
• The College of Pharmacy at the UT Health Science Center has been ranked in the top 10 of the nation's pharmacy schools for the past 10 years.
• UT received more than $253 million in research awards in 2003, an increase of almost $6 million over the previous year.
• The UT/Oak Ridge National Laboratory Science Alliance is a world leader in theoretical and applied collaborative research.
• The UT-Battelle partnership manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for the U.S. Department of Energy, giving the university a prestigious affiliation with one of the nation's premier research facilities.

Education Highlights

Tennessee's 21st Century Schools Program

• Reduced class size
• Mandatory kindergarten
• Strengthened academic and vocational classes
• Computer enrichment programs
• Greater flexibility for local schools

Special Programs

• Governor's Schools of Tennessee
• School Community Partnership Program
• Adopt A School Program
• BEST (Best Encourages Students and Teachers)

Special Schools in East Tennessee

• The Governor's School's of Tennessee (summer residential programs for high school juniors and seniors)
• Tennessee School for the Deaf (day and residential for ages 3 to 21)