According to a new report by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) released May 23, “College Going and the Class of 2021,” the percentage of Tennessee public high school graduates attending college in the fall semester following their graduation fell from 56.8 percent to 52.8 percent. It was the lowest college enrollment rate since the commission began tracking the numbers in 2011. The rate also dropped sharply in 2020, from 61.8 percent in 2019, a decline that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.
