New campus amenities, same affordable tuition: Randy Boyd's extended vision for UT System

Randy Boyd will work to see through his promise of the "greatest decade" in the University of Tennessee's history after being reappointed as UT System president until 2030.

But what is he planning next to make that happen?

• Adding and updating student housing: UT Knoxville entered a public-private partnership to build three dormitories by 2026, with plans to add room for 1,000 students each year. UT Chattanooga will build a new dormitory by fall 2027. UT Martin and UT Southern are still developing student housing strategies.
• Improving parking: The UT System Board of Trustees approved parking changes for UT Knoxville , including tiered parking zones based on location. The university also will place parking restrictions on first-year students and will expand the class schedule to spread out parking demand. Other UT campuses might replicate these strategies.
• Resolving capital project constraints : UT works with the state to build new academic buildings . There are 1,012 buildings across UT campuses, with an average lifespan of 67 years. Roughly $3.4 billion is needed for capital outlay costs over the next 10 years, along with $900 million in maintenance costs alone.
• Maintaining affordability : UT has held tuition increases to a 0.8% average per year for five years. Tuition will increase for every campus this fall to mitigate inflation costs. UT Promise, a last-dollar scholarship based on income, resulted in 47% of students graduating last year with zero debt.

Another big goal: to hit 71,000 total students enrolled across UT campuses by 2030. As of 2023, the system was at 58,726 students , an impressive figure that leaves room to grow by 12,274 across five main campuses.

This could be challenged by a looming "enrollment cliff," which refers to an anticipated drop in both the number of high school graduates and, more broadly, 18-year-olds in the coming years.

But UT is already working on a plan, which includes creating an interconnected and transparent approach to enrollment that showcases each campus and increases interest in attending college.

The UT Enrollment Council will start implementing parts of the plan in August, and each campus will draft individual plans this fall.

New criteria for University of Tennessee guaranteed admissions

When Boyd was approved for another five years during the annual UT System Board of Trustees meeting June 24 and 25, the board also made changes to the guaranteed admissions policy less than a year after it was implemented.

Here's the new criteria for upcoming high school graduates:

For UT Knoxville

• Students must get either a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average (GPA) or finish in the top 10% of their high school graduating class.
• And students need a 24 ACT composite score (or an SAT score of at least 1160-1190).

For UT Chattanooga, UT Martin and UT Southern :

• Students must either get at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA or finish in the top 10% of their high school graduating class.
• And students need a 23 ACT composite score (or an SAT score of at least 1130-1150).

Boyd is pushing UT Promise , a last-dollar scholarship covering tuition and fees for students in households that make $75,000 or less a year.

Adding to Tennessee's workforce with UT graduates

With 13,459 graduates last year, UT is a large provider in Tennessee's workforce. Boyd wants to continue to build the future workforce and meet market demands.

By 2030, Boyd wants to have 16,000 students graduating each year.

UT Knoxville will add four degree programs around emerging fields, including in artificial intelligence and data science. UT System leaders are organizing their campuses around producing and keeping workers here in Tenn essee .

Keenan Thomas is a higher education reporter. Email keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com . X, formerly known as Twitter @specialk2real .

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: New campus amenities, same affordable tuition: Randy Boyd's extended vision for UT System