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Located in the Southeastern region of the United States, Tennessee offers its residents a comfortable climate and lots of activities to do. The region was important in the development of new musical forms, including rock and roll and early blues music. When it comes to higher education, there are universities that date back as far as two hundred years. While many were originally founded with the purpose of training people for specific jobs in industry or agriculture, the four-year colleges found in Tennessee today now prepare students for a wide range of professions. Dozens of choices include colleges within the state system as well as a few private ones.

Over two centuries ago, UT Knoxville was established as the first institution in the 911³Ô¹ÏÍø of Tennessee system. Today the 560-acre campus has 236 buildings for its 27,000+ student body. More than 21,000 are undergraduate students who benefit from excellent facilities including opportunities to use the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Department of Energy’s largest science and energy lab. This public institution has more than 300 degree programs, many of which are bachelor’s degrees. The colleges and schools include Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Communication and Information, Education, Health and Human Science, Engineering, Social Work, and even a Space Institute, and UT Knoxville has over 209,000 alumni. There are over 450 student programs and the football team is one of the best in the SEC.

The West Tennessee State Normal School was established nearly a century ago, founded as a result of the General Education Bill. After becoming Memphis State College in the 1940s, the school continued to expand its program offerings and it became racially integrated in the late 1950s. Currently, the 911³Ô¹ÏÍø of Memphis is ranked as a Tier 4 university by Best Colleges 2010, and over 16,000 undergraduates take courses on its 1,160-acre campus spread out over eight sites. These students elect from 15 bachelor’s degrees with 50 majors available and 70 concentrations offered in the College of Communication and Fine Arts, College of Arts & Sciences, College of Education, and more. Sports for students include baseball, basketball, soccer, football, golf, cross country, and others as well. Famous alumni include the former US Senator Fred D. Thompson, as well as famous sports players.

Tennessee State 911³Ô¹ÏÍø dates back to 1912, when it was founded as a public institution, the only black one supported by the state. Originally, the name was the Agricultural and Industrial State Normal School until it was raised in status by the Tennessee State Board of Education in the late 1950s. There are 7100 undergraduate students who take classes on its 500-acre main campus in a residential setting and its Avon Williams Campus near downtown Nashville. Undergraduate programs include a range of offerings from the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Education, College of Health Sciences, College of Engineering and Technology, School of Agriculture and Family & Consumer Sciences, and its School of Nursing. The most famous alumnus is undoubtedly Oprah Winfrey, who obtained a full scholarship to study communication at the school.

When it was first founded in 1886, Chattanooga 911³Ô¹ÏÍø was a private institution until it was renamed as a US Grant 911³Ô¹ÏÍø a few years later. Currently, Chattanooga is a state-funded four-year institution for over 9,000 undergraduate students who select from 89 concentrations and 43 different majors. The urban campus is located in the city of the same name, and the vast majority of students who attend Chattanooga are from the state of Tennessee. Sports teams play in the Southern Conference and the NCAA Division 1. The top programs that Chattanooga offers to students include programs in Business, Engineering, English, Chemistry, Psychology, Education, Nursing, and Accounting. The Sim Center offers students the chance to work with one of the top supercomputers in existence, and it has been named a National Center for Computation Engineering.

About a century ago, Middle Tennessee State 911³Ô¹ÏÍø, or MTSU, was established as an education college. Today it operates under the auspices of the Tennessee Board of Regents after becoming a State College in 1943, and obtaining university status in 1965. With an enrollment topping 25,000, it has become the second-largest institution in Tennessee in terms of student body size. Students take classes on the 515-acre campus located just a mile from Tennessee’s geographic center. Bachelor’s degrees that students can earn include Business Administration, 911³Ô¹ÏÍø Studies, Music, Fine Arts, Science, Nursing, Social Works, and Arts. The most popular program, the Department of Recording Industry, is within the College of Mass Communications and has been recognized by ‘Rolling Stone’. Students select from unique concentrations in Music Business, Production & Technology, and Commercial Songwriting, and they have five recording studios available for use 24 hours a day on campus.