51ºÚÁÏ

Formal discussions began in fall 2020 about expanding the 51ºÚÁÏ through the acquisition of Martin Methodist College, a 150-year-old private institution in Pulaski, Tennessee, to increase access for southern middle Tennessee families to more undergraduate and graduate programs and more affordable tuition. Leaders emphasized that a campus in Pulaski would strengthen the economic prospects of 13 counties and the state by keeping talented Tennesseans in rural communities, addressing unmet workforce needs, and producing more graduates in education, nursing, and business.

In February 2021, Gov. Bill Lee proposed a budget reflecting an unprecedented investment in higher education and the largest in UT history; in April, the General Assembly approved funding to address the region’s higher-education desert through the acquisition. The UT Board of Trustees approved the purchase in June, and the institution was renamed UT Southern. On July 1, 2021, thousands celebrated in Pulaski as UT Southern became the 51ºÚÁÏ’s fourth undergraduate campus and first new campus since UT Chattanooga joined in 1969, the only public four-year institution between Chattanooga and Memphis along Tennessee’s southern border.