Buoyed by enrolling a record number of freshmen for the second year in a row, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s student body this fall is its largest in school history, according to enrollment figures announced Friday.
Overall, the total enrollment at UTC is 11,834 — 10,245 undergraduate and 1,589 graduate students. That’s about 450 more students than 2023 and breaks the previous high of 11,695 students set in fall 2020.
UTC also welcomed 2,473 freshmen this fall, breaking the record the university set a year ago.
Chancellor Steve Angle called the record enrollment “an outstanding milestone.”
“There is just so much good happening,” he said in an interview. “It makes me feel good, but it makes me feel extremely grateful because this is a team effort. This isn’t something I did. This is something the campus has done working together.”
(READ MORE: UTC tuition increases for 2024-25 school year)
He credited a combination of factors, including being more purposeful about communicating what’s happening at UTC and developing a sense of community on campus, for the record enrollment. The university’s location in Chattanooga also helps, he said.
“There’s a good buzz about Chattanooga — what a wonderful place,” Angle said. “We have people moving here without a job and they’re going to figure it out, but they want to live here. So I think that enthusiasm for what’s happening in the city is very positive for us to recruit students here. The entrepreneurial ecosystem that’s developed for business startups, coupled with existing large industry … you’ve got great options here.”
This year’s total headcount also puts the university on track to meet its goal of enrolling 14,800 students by 2030, Angle said. In order to reach that goal, the university needs to increase enrollment by about 3% a year. It rose by 4% this fall.
The rising enrollment comes with some growing pains, Angle said, but the university is working to solve them. It’s currently looking at its recreation facilities and food service, he said.
Across UTC, seven major projects — totaling more than $400 million — are either in process or about to start, the university said. The Wolford Family Athletic Center will be the first to reach completion when its grand opening is celebrated Monday, and all are expected to be completed by fall 2027.
Among the projects is a new 784-bed residence hall built on the site that once housed Frist Hall, located between McCallie Avenue and Oak Street.
The university is also looking at the quality of its housing to ensure it is modern and attractive to prospective students, as well as considering where to build another parking structure to best serve students and faculty, Angle said.
In the interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Angle referenced comments Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly made at his State of the City address Thursday where he noted that Chattanooga is the only major city in Tennessee without a major research university with very high research activity. Kelly said he is going to work on recruiting other universities if the UT system doesn’t begin to invest in UTC.
UTC is now classified as having moderate research activity, and Angle said it is close to being deemed as having high research activity.
“We’re working on research and how we can help drive the economy here in Chattanooga and the greater region,” he said. “Chattanooga’s providing a lot of opportunity for us to grow, too.”
Contact Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.