Tennessee Tech University

Tennessee Tech Today

Once again, Tennessee Tech University has achieved some outstanding accomplishments that serve to make us all very proud:

• Last fall, TTU reached another record enrollment. 10,847 students enrolled at TTU – about 9,000 full-time equivalent. Those positive numbers affected our funding this year.
• TTU is ranked once again as “Top Public University” by US News and World Report
• TTU is also ranked among the “Best in the Southeast” by Princeton Review and also as one of “America’s 100 Best College Buys.” Princeton Review also includes Tech in its listing of the the top 50 of public universities named “Best Value Colleges” in the United States.
• US News and World Report also ranks universities on debt load, how badly students are loaded up with debt. Tech students have the lightest debt load in the state of Tennessee and are ranked very high nationally – 60% of our students graduate totally debt free.
• Payscale.com reports TTU engineering graduates have the highest salary potential of any state university in Tennessee.
• Princeton Review also lists the College of Business as one of the “Best 301 Business Schools” in the nation. Our distance MBA program is ranked one of the “Top 21 Best Values” in the nation by GetEducated.com.
• Tennessee Tech also received a listing on the President’s Honor Roll for Higher Education Community Service, an outreach program in regional communities.

And in May we celebrated the grand opening of Ray Morris Hall, home of the Oakley STEM Center, an $8-million, 25,000 square foot building. This facility is a decade’s long dream for TTU. When the Foundation first started, we began talking about this facility.

Current Economic Climate

Despite our amazing accomplishments, TTU – and all of higher education in Tennessee - is facing some major changes and challenges ahead.

We expect an adoption of a new state budget by early June. For Tech, that budget and the related appropriation, is expected to involve about a 9% cut, which is another $4.5 million in cuts. In early June the legislature will approve the budget and our appropriation, and soon after that the Board of Regents will meet and set tuition.

When the TBR sets tuition at its meeting late June, community college tuition and university tuition will likely be set separately. That change should benefit us by allowing the four-year universities like Tech to set tuition at appropriate levels compared to peers.

When you look at tuition and cost, community colleges are already charging tuition that is at the average for the nation. The TBR four-year universities, including TTU, are charging only about 80% of their southern regional peers, however.

Unfortunately, we don’t expect to see a lot of relief within the economic status of the state within the next five years. The outlook for higher education funding during this time does not look good.

State Appropriations

State-wide, the budget for education is already $150 million less than it was two years ago. Tech’s funding is one-third less that it was two years ago in terms of state appropriations. We’ve lost an entire third of our operating budget. And the university is not and can not make all of that reduction up through increased tuition. Already, Tech has eliminated the Department of Industrial Engineering effective July 1, 2010, and eliminated two sports programs effective July. Every department on campus has had a massive operating cut. Positions have been frozen in some places, and there will be a small force reduction effective July 1. Tech’s cut from the state this year will amount to approximately $4.5 million.

(click on the individual graphs for a larger version)

This chart shows the state education funding picture. As you can see, the only thing keeping education funded at the 2007-08 levels are stimulus (ARRA – American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) funds and maintenance of effort (MOE – the state investment required to receive federal stimulus funds). The stimulus funding is represented in blue, and the MOE funding is represented in white. With a 6% budget reduction, education in Tennessee is expected to be funded at $171.8 million LESS than it was in 2008.

Peer Comparison

Tech has a set of peers all across the southeast; the state mandates that the peers must be in the south. These are schools like Tech in size and generally in mission. In comparison, Tech is funded at 83% of total revenue compared to revenue per FTE to peer institutions. That’s $2,000 less per student that we’re funded compared to our peer average. We’re underfunded around $18.8 million compared to peers.

All institutions rank below their peer average in terms of total funding per FTE

Total funding per FTE ranges from 75% to 97% of peer average

Using last year’s figures, as a group, total funding per FTE is around 86.6%

Note: this analysis is prior to state funding reductions averaging 28% and more at TBR universities

• TTU - 83%
  
• ETSU - 83%
  
• MTSU - 84%
  
• TSU - 96%
  
• APSU - 75%

For Tennessee Tech, that is about $18.8 Million dollars in operations on campus. When looking at Tech’s peers across the state, they are all underfunded.

Centennial Celebration 2015

Despite these funding challenges, President Bell is convinced that this campus does want to continue to focus on the quality of our campus, our students and our faculty. To do that, the he must show the faculty that there continues to be a vibrant future ahead. One visible way to do that is with construction going on around campus. President Bell believes a successful $30-million Centennial Campaign can be completed in the next five years with focus on the quad.

• $10 million campus improvement goal will focus on the main quad and historic buildings around the campus.
  • Proposed Campus Improvements
    • Academic mall behind Henderson Hall with a Bell Tower
    • Centennial Fountain (a $700,000 project)
    • Renovate buildings around the quad
    • Small campaigns to renovate the buildings
• A $10 million goal must also focus on supporting faculty by improving resources available for faculty development and attracting the best new teachers and researchers in their fields.
• To support campus and state-wide efforts of recruiting an excellent and diverse student body, retain them, and help them successfully reach their educational goals, the campaign must also raise $10 million for student scholarships and retention efforts.

The only way we can ensure the success of this Centennial Campaign in 2015 is to begin now! Thank you for your support.