Board of Regents approves tuition, presidential search criteria for Walters State Community College, new program at Roane State Community College

In a special called meeting today, the Tennessee Board of Regents approved tuition and fees for Academic Year 2025-26, search criteria for the next president of Walters State Community College, and a new associate degree program at Roane State Community College.

Combined tuition and mandatory fees will increase by an average of 3.25 percent at the Community Colleges and 3.26 percent at the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCATs), to fund a portion of operating cost increases due to inflation and the colleges’ share of a 2.6 percent salary increase recommended for state employees in the governor’s overall state budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2025-26.

The tuition increase is substantially under the 6.5 percent maximum increase authorized by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. Most students qualify for tuition-free programs such as Tennessee Promise, Tennessee Reconnect, and other state and federal financial aid.

The new rates will be effective with the Fall term and will mean a $47 per trimester increase at the TCATs and an average $81.50 per semester increase at the Community Colleges for in-state residents taking a full course load of 15 credit hours. Students taking fewer credit hours would see a similar percentage increase on a credit-hour basis. A chart detailing the rates is below.

The board also:

• Approved search criteria for the next president of Walters State Community College, where President Tony Miksa is leaving effective June 30 to assume the presidency of Johnson County Community College in Kansas.

Chancellor Flora W. Tydings announced that Regent Miles Burdine will chair the search advisory committee, which will review candidates and select finalists for the full board’s consideration. Regents Cayden Keltgen, Ross Roberts, and Danni Varlan will also serve on the search committee. The committee’s full membership will be announced after all members representing the college community are selected.

“We thank Dr. Miksa for his nine years of service as president and wish him well, and thank him also for completing the academic year with us,” Board Vice Chair Emily J. Reynolds said.

• Approved a new Speech Language Pathology Assistant program at Roane State Community College, leading to an Associate of Applied Science degree. It is the first associate-level program of its kind in the state and addresses the need for speech language pathology assistants in clinical and educational settings. Roane State will announce more details as the program moves closer to implementation.

Today’s meeting was livestreamed and is archived for viewing anytime on the TBR website here.  Board materials are also posted there.

Combined annual tuition (maintenance) and mandatory fee (fees paid by all students enrolled at a college, excluding any course-specific fees) for full-time students who are Tennessee residents (Chart reflects a full academic year of two semesters at the Community Colleges and three trimesters at the TCATs):