Tennessee Board Of Regents Chief Says Higher Ed System Is ‘On Track,’ Despite Plan To Break It Up

The head of the Tennessee Board of Regents says it wasn’t his idea to split up the system of 46 community colleges and universities.

In fact, he’s telling Gov. Bill Haslam the higher education network is doing just fine the way things are. 

Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor John Morgan appeared at the state Capitol on Wednesday to deliver his system’s proposed budget — one day after the governor announced the breakup plan.

The meeting was not called to discuss Haslam’s proposal to spin off the Board of Regents’ six universities and hand them over to an independent board. But Morgan conceded that it’s fair to say this: The breakup plan didn’t originate in his offices.

“Yeah, it was the governor’s proposal,” he said. “We’ve had conversation along the way, so it’s not like there hasn’t been communications ongoing. But this is very much, I think, the governor’s vision of what really will help move the state forward.”

Haslam argues that a breakup will give the universities more flexibility, and it’ll leave the Board of Regents to focus on community colleges and tech centers. That will help them achieve a goal his administration has set — for at least 55 percent of Tennesseans to have some sort of post-secondary degree or certification by 2025.

But Morgan says things are going well right now. He says the Board of Regents expects to deliver more than 430,000 degrees a year by 2025, its share of the governor’s goal.

“We’re on track,” Morgan said.

Which could be an important argument in the upcoming debate about the split.

Haslam’s breakup plan needs the approval of lawmakers, and their initial reactions have been enthusiastic. If opponents are to change their minds, they’ll have to convince legislators there are reasons to keep higher education as it is.