Tennessee’s just released 2025 Higher Education Fact Book highlighted Tennessee Tech’s improved freshmen retention rates and four-year graduation rates.
Tech has the highest freshmen retention rate among all locally-governed institutions and also has the highest four-year graduation rate among the state’s LGIs. News and Publications Director Jonathan Frank said the university has set an initiative to focus on student success. Frank said one of the ways the university has taken initiative for student success is the university’s Launchpad Student Success Center.
“That is a dedicated campus hub for advising and support for all of our first-year students,” Frank said. “and so that’s a change we have made in the last five years to bring that all into one central place and it’s been very successful thanks to the leadership of our Launchpad Director Angie Briggs and her team.”
Frank said other contributing factors to the university’s initiative to student success are a flat-rate tuition model and revised tutoring programs. Frank said being highlighted in the report boosts morale for current students and sends a powerful message to prospective students.
“They see that clearly, Tennessee Tech is offering a great product by virtue of the fact that people are staying here,” Frank said. “They are getting their degrees at rates well above the state average, so it’s an encouragement to all of us.”
Frank said many students who are choosing a university to attend are looking for the best return on investment (ROI). The Fact Book shows that Tennessee Tech students have the lowest debt among all public institutions in the state, and 10 years after entering Tech, students have the highest salaries of all LGIs. Frank said the report shows that if you invest four years at Tennessee Tech, you are likely to have a great return on investment.
“We are attracting great students, we are retaining them, we are graduating them, and we are sending them out into the world with a lower debt burden than other institutions and with higher salaries,” Frank said. “And so that’s a win-win.”
Frank said the report shows that students come to Tennessee Tech with the highest average ACT scores of all LGIs and the top two of all public universities in the state of Tennessee.
