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UT President Randy Boyd says he wants to keep growing enrollment while preparing students for the workforce

The annual address was done in a panel discussion format. Boyd was one of the moderators, with leaders of the five UT campuses as panelists.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Randy Boyd, the University of Tennessee System President, is calling this the greatest decade in university history. He addressed a crowd in Nashville during the annual State of the University address.

Boyd said in the past four years, the UT Promise program was created and gave more students a chance to attend college, while UT Southern was also added to the university system. He said the next goal is to enroll more students.

"One of the big measures of a university that's successful is growing enrollment," said Boyd. "And we started off with 54,000 students. Today we're at 59,000 students. Another myth that you'll hear sometimes is well, you know, college going is dropping and college attendance is dropping down at the University of Tennessee. We're up 15%. The last five years, our goal is to go collectively from a total of 59,000 to 71,000."

Katherine Bacon, a freshman, said she's glad she chose to go to UT Knoxville.

"I've grown up in the Knoxville area," said Bacon. "My mom went to UT, so pretty much my entire family went to UT and I just love it. I love the atmosphere and just being here."

Her friend Grace Bowser is from Cincinnati, Ohio. She says her neighbor made her interested in UT.

"My neighbor actually was the one who encouraged me to take a tour," said Bowser. "I'm so glad that he did because I absolutely love it here. But one of the main reasons is because they have a great biomedical engineering program. And that's my major. So I just thought it would be a great opportunity to come here and yeah, I love it."

Boyd said a common myth about the UT System is that tuition is high. He said tuition increased by around 1% over the last five years, on average. He said it's one of the lowest increases in the country. He also said programs like UT Promise and scholarships make tuition cheaper. The UT Promise program offers students below an income threshold the chance to attend college without having to pay tuition or fees.

"We've got other scholarships in our state, like the Hope Scholarship, which covers half the tuition of UT Martin Southern and Chattanooga. People can go and they can go at a very low price in effect. And if you're one of that 66% of the population making under $75,000, go free of tuition and fees," he said.

He said another misconception is that students will graduate with lots of debt.

"Around 49% of our students graduate with zero debt," said Boyd. "And that was before that the ones that are graduating now, that was before the UT Promise started."

Another goal is to keep University of Tennessee graduates in Tennessee. Donde Plowman, the chancellor of UT Knoxville, said around 40% of graduates take jobs in other states.

"And so that hurts. I mean, we really want them to stay here. We also know that out of state students who come here, about 49% stay in tech jobs in Tennessee. But it means that we have to work harder at giving students experiential opportunities," she said.

Meagan McCullough, a UTK junior and Oklahoma native, said she transferred from a school in Florida but loves it. She said she could see herself staying in the area once she graduates.

"I just, I honestly did a lot of research whenever I was trying to, because I transferred here from another school in Florida," said McCullough. "And so I was thinking like, 'Where do I want to be?' Like, 'Where can I see myself, kind of, like, establishing, like, some kind of roots?' And so I visited here and I was like, 'Okay, like, Tennessee's it.' Luckily, I got in. I'm hoping, you know, to just, kind of, like, find, my niche here and like, kind of just stay here grow. "

Plowman said last year, around 90% of the students who graduated from UTK either went to graduate school or got a job within six months. She said it's a similar metric at the other UT campuses too.

UT leaders also said they speak to workforce leaders throughout the state constantly, so graduates are prepared for the workforce. Plowman said the UT System is also creating degree programs to match the workforce needs.

"One of the things that we're doing — two innovative things that. you know, cross our fingers that it works in the College of Engineering. They're starting a new Department of Applied Engineering," said Plowman. "And this is sort of to provide the link between kind of what goes on in the tech schools versus theoretical engineering. And so, we're excited about that we're gonna be offering degrees in Applied Engineering, Applied Computer Science, applied AI."

She also said the school would start a new college called "Collaborative and Emergent Studies."

"This is a college with no faculty, but it's going it's the job of the staff that are running it. That dean is to wake up every day, responding to what the industry says they need. They've already had a big workshop with like 60 industry leaders there. We're going to be putting together stackable credentials. So what if I had 12 hours in data science? 12 hours in AI and 12 hours in ethics? Would you hire me? And the industry says,'Yes.' So, we now have a mechanism for doing that," she said.

A recent lawsuit regarding the NCAA and name, image and likeness deals for student-athletes was not discussed at the address.

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