ETSU highlights enrollment gains and wins a $28.7M federal GEAR UP grant
November 15, 2025 | East Tennessee State University, Public Universities, School Districts, Tennessee
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On capital and state relations, Noland said the Tennessee Higher Education Commission will submit 18 projects to the governor, and two ETSU projects—the engineering sciences building and campus utility infrastructure—are included on that block. He urged trustees to help advocate for projects in Nashville and emphasized that the commission is packaging projects rather than ranking them individually as in prior years.
Noland also announced a major federal grant award. “This grant is $28,700,000 but when you include the matching resources, it’s about a $60,000,000 grant,” he said, describing a GEAR UP program to build college‑going cultures across Carter, Hawkins, Johnson, Kingsport, Sullivan and Washington County schools and to place 18 ETSU employees in regional schools. Noland said the grant ranks among the three largest in the university’s history and will fund staff, school‑based programming and partnership activities over the coming years.
The president closed with budget context: roughly 40 cents of every dollar comes from tuition and fees, about 40 cents from state appropriations, and roughly 75 cents of each dollar spent goes to salaries and benefits. Trustees discussed how THEC’s evolving statewide objectives (for example a potential move beyond 'Drive to 55' toward a new 'North Star') may influence ETSU’s strategic agenda and credential offerings.
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