Featured Image: The Education, Research and Service Committee and the full UT Board of Trustees held sessions during the annual meeting at UT Southern on June 30, 2026, in Pulaski, Tennessee. (Photo provided by UT System)
The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees approved a proposal to increase undergraduate in-state tuition and mandatory fees at the University of Tennessee at Martin by 3% at their annual meeting on June 30, 2026, at the University of Tennessee Southern campus in Pulaski, Tennessee.
In-state undergraduate tuition for the 2026-27 academic year will be $9,338, an increase of $272 from the 2025-26 year. In-state mandatory fees will be $1,810, an increase of $52 from the 2025-26 year.
The proposal states that the increase of funds will go toward instructional support, scholarships, student services, faculty and staff promotions, fixed cost increases and a portion of the 1.5% salary pool that was not fully funded by state appropriations.
According to the proposal, 92.7% of in-state undergraduate students receive some form of financial aid to help offset tuition costs, with the average undergraduate student receiving $8,327 in aid. It also notes that UT Martin’s average tuition increase over the last four years is 2.99%, which is lower than the Tennessee Higher Education Commission’s limit of 4.5%.
The proposal was originally approved by the UT Martin Advisory Board at their meeting on May 15, 2026, before being brought to the UT System Board of Trustees.
Undergraduate in-state tuition and mandatory fees increases of 3% were also approved for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the University of Tennessee Southern. A 1.1% increase in fees was approved for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, while their tuition costs remain flat at $11,560 per academic year.
In other business, the Board of Trustees approved to name UTM’s new Business building the Bill and Amy Rhodes Business Building (commonly known as Rhodes Hall) in honor of their support of UT Martin. They also approved the reorganization of the College of Business and Global Affairs to create a new School of Business and renaming the college to the College of Business.
In system-wide news, a new framework to support the creation of reduced-credit undergraduate degrees was approved, which would allow schools in the UT System to create undergraduate degree programs requiring less than the standard 120 credit hours.
A recording of the meeting can be viewed at any time on the UT System website.
