Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) 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 ...

land-grant university A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, Morrill Acts of 1862 and ...

Nashville, Tennessee 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 ...

, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Tennessee State University offers 41

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

s, 23

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

s, and eight doctoral degrees. It is classified as "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".

History

The university was established as the Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State Normal School for Negroes in 1912. Its dedication was held on January 16, 1913. It changed its name to Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State Normal College in 1925. Two years later, in 1927, it became known as Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College. In 1941, the Tennessee General Assembly directed the Board of Education to upgrade the educational program of the college. Three years later the first master's degrees were awarded and by 1946 the college was fully accredited by the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is a regional educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. As of 2022, the organization oversees ap ...

. Significant expansion occurred during the presidency of Walter S. Davis between 1943 and 1968. The postwar period resulted in the construction of "70 percent of the school's facilities" and the establishment of the graduate school and four other schools. In 1968, the college officially changed its name to Tennessee State University. In 1979, the University of Tennessee at Nashville merged into Tennessee State due to a court mandate. In 2022, Tennessee State University was awarded $250 million from the state legislature. The funds were intended to upgrade facilities and academic programs on campus. At the time of the award, the $250 million investment was the largest single investment into a historically black institution in the history of the country. In 2023, Tennessee State's most well known graduate,

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, served as the official commencement speaker for the first time. On March 28, 2024, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed legislation that removed all of the school's board of trustees and replaced them with new members, subject to legislative confirmation. Characterizing the school as a “remarkable institution” he said, “I’m pleased to appoint these highly qualified individuals who will work alongside administrators and students to further secure TSU’s place as a leading institution.” State legislation authorizing the governor to vacate the board of trustees was prompted by the numerous instances of financial and procedural mismanagement uncovered in recent school audits. Representative Ryan Williams specifically noted that the $250 million appropriation made by the legislature in 2022 was “completely blown through” and not used for infrastructure improvements as intended. Tennessee State University is divided into 10 schools and colleges and has seen steady growth since its inception. It remains the only public university in Nashville. Its health science program is the largest in the state and one of the largest in the nation.

Campus

The main

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

has more than 65 buildings, and is located in a residential setting at 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd in

. Tennessee State's main campus has the most acres of any college campus in Nashville. The Avon Williams campus is located downtown, near the center of the Nashville business and government district. Tennessee State offers on-campus housing to students. There are on-campus dorms and two apartment complexes for upperclassmen. On-campus facilities include dormitories Wilson Hall, Watson Hall, Eppse Hall, Boyd Hall, Rudolph Hall, Hale Hall, as well as the Ford Complex and New Residence Complex, TSU's two on-campus apartment complexes.

Academics

The university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the

(SACS) to award

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

s, baccalaureate degrees,

s, and doctoral degree. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The university is organized into the following schools and colleges: *College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Sciences *College of Business *College of Education *College of Engineering *College of Health Sciences *College of Liberal Arts *College of Life and Physical Sciences *College of Public Service *University Honors College *School of Graduate and Professional Studies The College of Business is accredited by the

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an American professional and accreditation organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to busines ...

(AACSB). It was the first institution in Nashville to earn the accreditation of both its undergraduate and graduate business programs in 1994. The psychology program is accredited by the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

. Programs in the College of Engineering are accredited by the

Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology ABET (pronounced A-bet), formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc., is a non-governmental accreditation organization for post-secondary programs in engineering, engineering technology, computing, and appli ...

(ABET) or the National Association of Industrial Technology (NAIT). The Master of Public Health program was accredited in 2015 by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).

Student activities

Athletics

Tennessee State University sponsors seven men's and eight women's teams in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) sanctioned sports. The school competes in the NCAA's Division I

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (F ...

and is a member of the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

(OVC). As a member of the OVC, Tennessee State is one of three Division I HBCU athletic programs that are not members of either the

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC ) is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and the Mid-A ...

(MEAC) or

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United St ...

(SWAC), whose members are primarily HBCU institutions. TSU has a rivalry with Tennessee Tech and Kentucky State University.

Student organizations

There are over 60 registered student organizations on campus including the Student Government Association, Aristocrat of Bands (AOB), and many Greek-lettered organizations.

Notable alumni

Aviation

Civil rights

Education

Entertainment

Politics

Science and technology

Sports

References

External links

* {{authority control Historically black universities and colleges in Tennessee Land-grant universities and colleges Universities and colleges in Nashville, Tennessee Universities and colleges established in 1912 University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools 1912 establishments in Tennessee Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Nashville, Tennessee African-American history in Nashville, Tennessee Public universities and colleges in Tennessee