All five UT campuses posted enrollment increases in fall 2025, driving the UT System to record growth for the sixth consecutive year. Overall enrollment climbed to 64,866 students, a 4.4 percent increase from 2024, keeping the system on track to surpass its 2030 goal of 71,000 students.
In 2025, the first-year retention rate reached 85.8 percent, up 4.5 percent from 2020. UT awarded 15,156 total degrees in 2025, including 15.4 percent more bachelor’s and 18.6 percent more graduate and professional degrees than five years ago.
“We’re hitting our stride in building the greatest decade in UT history, and the numbers speak for themselves,” UT System President Randy Boyd says. “More Tennesseans are choosing UT because we’re focused on what matters: affordability, opportunity and outcomes. Every new student is a future graduate ready to power our workforce and serve communities across this great state.”
“Find Your Future” Tour Highlights College-Going Opportunities
The UT System’s Find Your Future tour wrapped up this fall after visiting 11 high schools and traveling nearly 2,000 miles. The tour reached more than 3,000 high school students to promote the value and affordability of a UT degree. UT System President Randy Boyd and campus chancellors met with students and school leaders, highlighting opportunities across the system. The tour also emphasized the UT System’s commitment to affordability. More than half of UT students graduate debt free, a reality made possible through financial aid programs and scholarships like UT Promise, which assists with tuition and mandatory fees for eligible Tennessee residents.
2030 Strategic Plan Reviewed at Board Meeting
The UT Board of Trustees reviewed the Be One UT 2030 Strategic Plan at its meeting in October. The strategic plan focuses on strengthening access, driving research and innovation, fueling Tennessee’s workforce and building stronger communities. The plan is grounded in the UT System’s Be One UT values, which stand for bold and impactful, embrace diversity, optimistic and visionary, nimble and innovative, excel in all we do, united and connected, and transparent and trusted. These values are a call to action that aligns more than 20,000 employees around shared goals, strengthens UT’s culture and fosters a deep sense of purpose and commitment. The strategic plan aligns priorities across all campuses and institutes to support the needs of students and the state.
Board Chair John Compton says the proposed plan reflects the university’s continued momentum.
“The University of Tennessee is stronger than ever—fiscally, strategically and operationally,” he says. “This plan positions us to support our students, faculty, staff and the state for decades to come. The board looks forward to continued dialogue and approval at a future meeting.”