The University of Tennessee at Martin was designated as one of the 2025 Opportunity Colleges and Universities by the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT).
The designation is new, distinguishing those colleges and universities that have higher access for students and higher potential earnings for its graduates and can serve as a model for studying how campuses can foster student success.
UT Martin will maintain the Opportunity Colleges and Universities designation until 2028, when colleges and universities will be reclassified by the ACE and the CFAT.
“This designation means that UT Martin provides more access to students and gives them greater earning potential,” said Chancellor Yancy Freeman Sr. “UTM is the only university in Tennessee in its category to earn this designation and one of only three Tennessee institutions overall to do so.”
UT Martin was one of only 18 institutions in its category – the top 14.5 percent – to earn the Opportunity Colleges and Universities designation.
Last year, the ACE and the CFAT redesigned its classification system into an Institutional Classification, which organizes institutions based on a fuller set of dimensions, including a wider look at the types of degrees they award, the subjects in which they award degrees and the size of the institution. This makes for a more accurate “apples-to-apples” comparison.
As part of this redesignation process, the new Student Access and Earnings Classification examines the extent to which an institution enrolls students who reflect the communities it serves and whether an institution’s former students go on to earn competitive wages compared to peers in their area.
It also recognizes student success and drives institutional improvement that can increase access to higher education and improve outcomes.
Another update to the Carnegie Classifications system, the Opportunity Colleges and Universities designation, promotes the higher-access and higher-earnings institutions that can serve as models for studying how campuses can foster student success.
The Opportunity Colleges and Universities designation was determined based on an institution’s classification using scores assigned to it in accessibility and earnings potential.
To determine a classification, colleges and universities were divided into six categories, based on the highest degree that they confer and the institution’s enrollment. UT Martin was one of 124 institutions categorized as a professions-based undergraduate/graduate-master’s large or medium institution.
Colleges and universities were assigned a value for their access measure, which is the enrollment of Pell Grant recipients and students from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups compared to a similar population in their area, and for their earnings measure, which represents undergraduate student earnings eight years after enrollment compared to a similar population in their area with a high school diploma or higher credential.
UT Martin received an access measure of 1.35 and an earnings measure of 1.5. Colleges and universities with access scores of 1.0 or better and earnings scores of 1.5 or better earned the Opportunity Colleges and Universities designation.
For more information about UT Martin, visit www.utm.edu or call 1-800-829-UTM1 (-8861).
