A digital humanities map project

One University, Five Campuses

The University of Tennessee System stretches about 350 miles, from the Smoky Mountain foothills to the Mississippi River. Each of its five campuses began as something else: a frontier college, a Methodist women's school, a Baptist institute. This project maps where they are, when they joined UT, and how many students they serve today.

By Shanquez Dobbins · Revised November 2026 · Data as of Fall 2025

The system at a glance

UT is a statewide system. Five campuses each have their own chancellor, all reporting to the UT System president. Only Knoxville was part of UT from the start. Each of the other four joined later, by merger, by state takeover, or by acquisition, between 1911 and 2021.

64,866students systemwide, Fall 2025 (a record)
5campuses with their own chancellors
1794oldest root: Blount College, Knoxville
2021newest member: UT Southern, Pulaski

Map tour: east to west

The tour moves from east to west across the state. Use the buttons, or click a numbered pin.

The campuses

Each card traces the institution's earlier names. A campus's identity has often been a matter of what it is called.

Founded vs. joined UT

Each bar starts when the institution was founded. The gray part is its history before UT. The colored part is its time in the UT system. UT Southern spent 151 years as an independent Methodist college before joining.

Before UTPart of UT (campus color)

Who studies where

Knoxville, the flagship, enrolls about 62% of all UT students. Chattanooga set a campus record in Fall 2025, passing 12,000 students for the first time.

Total headcount, Fall 2025, as reported by the UT System. The five campuses add up exactly to the 64,866 systemwide total.

Campus leadership

Each campus chancellor reports to UT System President Randy Boyd. Leadership changes often, so this table is dated.

CampusChancellor

Current as of November 2026, based on UT System board minutes and news releases (see Sources). Check tennessee.edu before citing.

Sources & method

Campus locations are approximate main-campus centroids. Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors. The page uses no copyrighted logos or photos. Each campus is shown by a color instead.

  1. UT System, “UT Reaches Record Enrollment, Preparing More Graduates for Tennessee Jobs,” Sept. 17, 2025.
  2. UT Chattanooga, “UTC sets record with fall 2025 enrollment,” Sept. 8, 2025.
  3. UT Martin Library Special Collections, “Early Origins and Hall-Moody Institute.”
  4. Tennessee Encyclopedia, “University of Tennessee at Martin.”
  5. Volopedia (UT Libraries), “Chancellors of UT Knoxville.”
  6. UT Board of Trustees, “New Chancellors for UT Chattanooga, UT Southern Approved” and “Minutes, Winter Meeting, Feb. 27, 2026.”
  7. Wikipedia, “University of Tennessee system” and linked campus articles (founding names).