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HISTORY
Tennessee Technological University was established by an act of the General Assembly in 1915 and opened its doors to students the following year. The University began operation on the campus that had belonged to Dixie College, a private institution founded in 1911. The purchase of the Dixie campus property and the erection of two dormitories, East and West Halls, were funded by Putnam County and the City of Cookeville. Since then, the growth of the institution has been closely interwoven with the development of the Upper Cumberland region.
From 1916 to 1924, Tennessee Polytechnic Institute offered work only on a high school and junior college level. By 1929, however, the Tennessee Board of Education authorized a complete college program, and the first class of four-year graduates received the baccalaureate degrees in June.
In 1938 the instructional program was reorganized into two main divisions: the Arts and Sciences and the Professional and Technical Subjects. These divisions were renamed schools nine years later. In 1949 the administrative structure was expanded into five schools consisting of Agriculture and Home Economics (now Agriculture and Human Ecology), Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Education, and Engineering. In 1950 the department of Military Science was added and in 1951 commissioned its first class of officers. The Graduate School program was authorized in 1958. The five undergraduate schools were designated as colleges in 1965 when Tennessee Polytechnic Institute gained university status and changed its name to Tennessee Technological University. In 1980, the School of Nursing began classes. In 2001, the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Extended Education was established. Since 1972, the University has been governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents. In 2006, the Schools of Agriculture, Human Ecology, and Nursing were incorporated into the College of Agricultural and Human Sciences.
The Master of Arts degree was authorized in 1958, and the Master of Science degree in 1964. The Specialist in Education degree was authorized in 1970, the Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering in 1971, the Master of Business Administration in 1976, the Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Sciences in 1997, and the Doctor of Philosophy in Exceptional Learning in 2000. The University granted its first 3 Master’s degrees in August 1959.
Since its inception in 1958, the Graduate School has striven to provide the
highest quality of graduate programs and to maintain its rich heritage under
the leadership of James Alton Barksdale; Charles J. Keene, Jr.; Wallace S.
Prescott; Albert H. Cooper; R. Martin Peters; Rebecca F. Quattlebaum; and Francis
O. Otuonye. Through May 2006, the University has awarded 10,486 Master’s
Degrees, 2078 Specialist in Education Degrees, and 200 Doctor of Philosophy
Degrees.
Page last updated: 9/10/08
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Graduate Studies
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