Last June, Tennessee State University (TSU) reached an agreement with the State of Tennessee that university leaders hoped would help address a longstanding budget problem.¶
Under the agreement, TSU would divert $96 million from a $250 million pool of deferred maintenance funds to support the university’s operational needs. TSU leaders felt the agreement would help focus on long-term goals while also ensuring a more stable financial future.¶
TSU President Dwayne Tucker told Governor Bill Lee on Thursday that his university’s finances are improving, but it still needs help with deferred maintenance.¶
“As you know, we moved some of that money out of that bucket to help with our financial challenges, and I think the university now, in our upcoming quarterly event, is going to show a lot of progress that we’ve made,” said Tucker. “Our request on behalf of TSU would be to provide some additional capital dollars to make up for the deferred maintenance costs that we have.”¶
Tucker did not provide a specific dollar amount for deferred maintenance that TSU will be requesting for the 2026-27 budget year.¶
The university’s presentation was part of the annual budget hearings Governor Lee held last week for state departments as he prepares his 2026-27 budget proposal.¶
UT Requests New College of Medicine Building¶
University of Tennessee (UT) System President Randy Boyd joined Tucker and other higher education leaders in requesting a combined $1.6 billion in capital improvements and another $357.5 million in capital maintenance.¶
Boyd told Governor Lee that UT’s priority is a new building for the UT-Knoxville College of Medicine. UT acquired that building 70 years ago, and Boyd says it was never a good fit for its purpose.¶
“If we’re going to continue to provide the health care professionals of our state and making sure we can address the health care needs of our state, it’s imperative that we invest in a new College of Medicine facility, and that’s our number one priority,” said Boyd.¶
Outcomes-Based Funding Requested¶
In addition to facility requests, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission presented Governor Lee with a $73.8 million request to fully fund the outcomes-based formula. It provides funding to colleges and universities based on their performance across several areas, including the number of degrees awarded, job placements, and graduation rates.¶
“What we’re buying with that are 1.3 million contact hours our community college sector has given for workforce training, the dual-enrollment for our high schools, the great growth and innovative spirit at our universities for research and development, and the higher retention and graduation rates we’re seeing in our university sector,” said Tennessee Higher Education Commission Executive Director Steven Gentile.¶
