Tennessee State University, the historically Black educational institution in Nashville, announced that there are more than 1,500 students in this fall’s entering class. This is the largest first-year class in the university’s history. There are 17 percent more entering students this year than was the case a year ago. The entering class also has one of the best set of academic credentials of any entering class in university history. Entering students averaged an 18.1 composite score on the ACT college entrance examination and had a mean high school grade point average of 3.07.
Due to growing enrollment, Tennessee State University has announced a $75 million construction project to build new residence halls on campus. Glenda Glover, president of Tennessee State University, stated that “new residence halls represent a remarkable recruiting tool, and add to the life of any college campus.”
Construction on the project is scheduled to being in the summer of 2019 with the first students moving into the new residence halls in the fall of 2020.
Stories like this make me proud to have attended an historically black college and university (HBCU). This story reflects the current trend of HBCU’s reporting an above average enrollment. I hope this will continue, so that we can eliminate the graduation gap.