Abstract:

Tennessee community colleges have cracked the code on student access to higher

education, but they still lag behind in completion rates, making the state’s ambitious Drive to 55 goal difficult to attain. This paper investigates what it would look like for Tennessee to create a new public community college that was suited to the needs of students and employers in a post-COVID-19 world. It also investigates the logistics of such an endeavor. The paper employs a mixed-methods, primarily qualitative approach that includes interviews, investigation of successful alternative models, and a review of institutional data, state laws, and community college budgets. Ultimately, the research asserts that Tennessee’s community colleges are currently coming up short of meeting the needs of the state’s students and employers. Alternative, innovative models with proven track records should instead be implemented at a new two-year public institution to later be expanded throughout the Tennessee Board of Regents Community College system. Establishing such a college is both feasible and necessary to meet the state’s goals and to best serve its residents.