The Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCAT) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

technical college An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...

operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. It has 24 campuses located throughout the US state of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. It was previously named the Tennessee Technology Centers. , the TCAT campuses have a combined enrollment of 34,486 students, with the most popular programs being truck driving,

welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, primarily by using high temperature to melting, melt the parts together and allow them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Co ...

, automotive technology, practical nursing, and

cosmetology Cosmetology (from Greek , ''kosmētikos'', "beautifying"; and , ''-logia'') is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty include hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/ pedicures, non-permanent hair removal suc ...

History

TCAT was founded as the State Area Vocational-Technical Schools. Construction began on the first three urban locations, Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville, in July 1966. The Knoxville campus opened in January 1968. In 1994, State Area Vocational-Technical Schools were rebranded as Tennessee Technology Centers. Tennessee Technology Centers received praise from Complete College America in a 2011 report for their high degree completion rate of 75 percent. In July 2013, Tennessee Technology Centers was rebranded as Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology to clearly communicate the

post-secondary Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

training offered.

Campuses

TCAT has 26 campuses and several branches from other campuses: *

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

* Brownsville *

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

* Covington * Clarksville - Branch of Dickson Campus * Crossville * Crump * Dickson * Elizabethton * Fayetteville—Branch of Shelbyville Campus * Greeneville —Branch of Morristown Campus * Harriman * Hartsville-Trousdale * Hohenwald * Huntsville * Jacksboro * Kingsport—Branch of Elizabethton Campus *

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

* Lewisburg—Branch of Shelbyville Campus * Livingston * McKenzie * McMinnville * Memphis * Morristown * Murfreesboro *

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

* Newbern * Oneida—Branch of Huntsville Campus *

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

* Pulaski * Ripley * Surgoinsville—Branch of Morristown Campus * Tazewell—Branch of Morristown campus * Shelbyville * Whiteville *

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

—Branch of Shelbyville Campus * Union City—Branch of Newbern Campus

Academics

TCAT offers numerous programs and has partnerships with businesses. The Memphis campus offers a welding apprenticeship program with Morgan Steel company.

References

{{Tennessee Board of Regents Education in Tennessee Universities and colleges accredited by the Council on Occupational Education

History

Campuses

Academics

See also

References