UT System Unveils New Guidelines as Admissions Break Records

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga announced Friday that it has a record high freshman class.

This comes as the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees approved new guidelines that could increase the amount of students that get admitted.

With record high enrollment across the system, the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees have announced new admission guidelines that may increase the amount of students that get accepted into their universities.

According to the new guidelines, any Tennessee public high school senior that is in the top 10 percent of their graduating high school class or has a 4.0 or better GPA can get into any UT school, including the flagship campus in Knoxville.

For three campuses including UTC, there are a separate set of requirements.

In order to guarantee admission into UTC, students will have to meet two requirements. At least a 3.2 GPA and 23 composite ACT score.

Some wonder if campuses like UTC, which just announced Friday that it is welcoming over 2,300 new freshman to their campus, is ready for the increase.

One UTC student, Megan Schweitzer, said, “So I have noticed that it is a lot harder to find parking this year, especially with the general lot. I tried to get a reserve lot, but I was in the queue for an hour when I got in and there weren’t any left.”

Another UTC student, Ella Crawford, said, “I do know that there should be updates in the Freshman housing, that’s all I’m going to say on that. I had a rough experience.”

UT System President Randy Boyd says the new policy aims to keep Tennessee’s highest achieving students home.

President Boyd said, “By opening it up to the top ten percent, some high schools may have students that are less prepared than we normally see. But we believe that it is our responsibility to make sure that they are successful.”

He said that at the flagship campus in Knoxville, it is their goal to have 41,000 students enrolled by the end of the decade.

President Boyd said, “We feel like we still have the capacity to meet the increase in Tennessee students. So the difference will be it will affect then ratio of out of state versus in-state (students).”

Students say while they’re excited with the new year, they just hope growth is handled responsibly.

Alivia Lacy, a UTC student, said, “As it stands now I think UTC has just enough students, with the increase of students, I feel like housing is already hard to get here so I don’t think, what are increased the students who would, you know.”

The new admission guidelines begin next fall with the 2024 freshman class.