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Tennessee Board of Regents highlights enrollment growth, TCAT master plan and cybersecurity needs
Summary
Chancellor Tidings told the committee TBR is seeing enrollment and degree gains and urged funding for deferred maintenance, cybersecurity and workforce-focused program expansion as the $1.5 billion TCAT master plan scales to add tens of thousands of training slots statewide.
Chancellor Tidings, speaking for the Tennessee Board of Regents, told the Finance, Ways and Means Committee the system is reporting enrollment increases across technical and community colleges and record numbers of degrees awarded. "We are up 7% at our community colleges, 14.2% at our technical colleges," she said, and reported 23,166 awards for 2025.
Tidings emphasized capital maintenance and cybersecurity as urgent priorities across 37 campuses and described the TCAT master plan funded at $1.5 billion. "We estimate that it will give us an additional capacity of over 30,000 across the state," she said, adding that the 30,000 figure is rotating capacity rather than a one-time increase. The chancellor said TBR is targeting program expansion in areas aligned with employer demand — aviation, artificial intelligence, ceramic tile, and nuclear energy — and flagged mental-health, advising and correctional-education partnerships as areas for ongoing investment.
Committee members asked for program-level detail and for documentation showing how the master-plan slots and program expansions will be distributed. TBR offered to provide additional breakdowns on programs expanded and the number of new seats per campus. Tidings also noted cybersecurity needs tied to the system’s 37 campuses and asked for funding to bolster monitoring and response capacity.
The hearing did not include a committee decision; officials and members agreed to follow up with more detailed lists of proposed capital projects and program expansions.
