TN Promise May Be Affecting TTU Transfer Rates

Tennessee Promise (TN Promise) could be affecting Tennessee Tech’s transfer rates over the last few years.

That according to University President Phil Oldham. He and the rest of Tennessee Tech’s Board of Trustees discussed how the two-year program has affected four-year institutions during Thursday’s Executive Board meeting.

“I don’t think we’re really unique in this. One of the expectations from TN Promise, I think all the four-year campuses expected to see a decline in freshman over the first couple of years at least, which we’ve definitely experienced,” Oldham said. “There was an expectation that after those students completed a two-year degree at a community college, they would likely transfer to a four-year campus.”

The Tennessee Promise Act of 2014 was established to help provide students two years of tuition-free education at community colleges and technical schools across the state.

Oldham said the initial expectation that those students would transfer into larger institutions has not been realized nearly five years later.

“That’s not just a local phenomenon, that’s across the entire state. There has not been a surge in transfer students post-two-year degree completion as some expected,” Oldham said. “Some of them stop at that point, start their career, [or have] life issues.”

Statistics provided during the Trustees meeting showed transfer enrollment declined from 2017 to 2018. However, Tennessee Tech’s incoming freshman class for the Fall 2019 semester has risen from last fall by over 200 students.