College of Engineering hits second consecutive all-time enrollment record driven by growth in first-time freshmen
The Tennessee Tech College of Engineering set another all-time enrollment record for
a second straight year with total enrollment of 3,239 students, according to Fall
2025 census data. Since 2021, the college’s total enrollment has grown 22 percent,
largely driven by dramatic growth in first-time freshmen of 40 percent.
In Fall 2025, the college enrolled 2,986 undergraduate students—including 795 first-time freshmen— and 253 graduate students. The College of Engineering remained Tech’s top college by enrollment, with its mechanical engineering and computer science undergraduate programs leading the university’s top five programs. University-wide, Tennessee Tech also reached its highest total enrollment in a decade, enrolling the fourth-largest freshman class in its 110-year history.
The College of Engineering has grown significantly since 2021 with an expansion of its facilities and the addition of new programs, including aerospace, construction management, hardware and system security and smart manufacturing to meet workforce needs in industries critical to the state’s economy. The college’s new Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering, now in its second year, has already surpassed its 6-year enrollment goal of 40 students, enrolling 45 new and returning students in Fall 2025. The program is expected to increase the number of nuclear engineering grads in Tennessee by 25-30 percent.
New facilities include the student-focused Ashraf Islam Engineering Building opened in Fall 2024, with a second building—the Advanced Construction and Manufacturing Engineering (ACME) Building—breaking ground in October. The ACME Building will be devoted to “making” on a grand scale, featuring industry-grade instructional labs to provide students with experience in real-world practices in advanced manufacturing and construction. The two buildings combined add nearly 180,000 square feet of student project space, classrooms and research facilities.
“This momentum didn’t happen by accident,” said Joseph C. Slater, dean of the College of Engineering. “Our faculty and staff work nimbly and tirelessly to deliver a hands-on, career-focused engineering and computer science education and students are choosing Tech for that reason. Employers value our graduates because they’re problem-solvers who can step into complex challenges immediately and look to the College of Engineering to meet their workforce needs. Our growth reflects a college that’s listening, adapting and leading.”
Tennessee Tech is the state’s only polytechnical university. The College of Engineering is home to nine bachelor’s degrees programs with 18 concentrations, six master’s degree programs, a Ph.D. in Engineering with five concentrations and a Ph.D. in Computer Science. It is ranked among the top two public universities in Tennessee with engineering colleges offering doctoral programs by U.S. News and World Report for 2025.