Data and Research

The data sources for the interactive data dashboards are the enrollment and report of graduate files submitted to TBR – College System of Tennessee by System institutions. For some metrics, data definitions diverge from state and federal guidelines.  These figures may vary from information presented and used internally by TBR, individual System institutions, or external reporting agencies.

Enrollment data reflects all students enrolled at any time in the fall semester at the reporting institution.

Adult Learners are students aged 25 and older, in line with Tennessee's Funding Formula Definitions.

Awards consist of degrees and certificates eligible in the Funding Formula: Associate degrees, 1 to 2 Year Certificates, and Less Than 1-year Certificates. General education certificates are excluded from this metric. One to 2 Year Certificates require completion of 24 or more semester credit hours, and Less Than 1 Year Certificates require fewer than 24 semester credit hours.

Retention and graduation rates are based on an established cohort. The cohort includes degree-seeking students who enroll in college for the first time after graduating from high school in fall or in the prior summer and continued in the fall, attempting 12 credit hours at the fall census date. Census date occurs the 14^th calendar day of the semester.

Dual Enrolled students are high school students enrolled in one or more college courses.

Full-time Equivalent (FTE) enrollments capture proportional course-taking activity of full-time and part-time students in the fall semester. FTE is calculated as total degree credits divided by 15.

Full-time students are those taking 12 or more semester credit hours. Part-time students are those taking fewer than 12 semester credit hours.

Graduation rates reflect the number of students in the cohort who earned a certificate or degree within 3 years of entering college.

Lottery Recipients are students receiving the Tennessee Lottery Scholarship. The Lottery Scholarship is funded by the TN Education Lottery Scholarship Program to provide financial support to Tennesseans attending eligible TN colleges.

Low Income Students are those receiving Pell Grant Awards. Pell Grants are provided to students with financial need following federal guidelines.

One-year Retention Rates reflect the number of students in the cohort who have returned the next fall or earned a certificate or degree any time during the first year of enrollment.

Other Students are students who were registered at a TBR institution during the preceding spring or summer term, transfer students, and transient students.

Race/ethnicity is self-reported and optional. Since fall 2010, students first choose ethnicity, Hispanic or Not Hispanic, then can select one or more of the following races: American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or White. To protect student privacy, students from these groups have been aggregated into 4 groups consisting of those who identified as Hispanic, Black or African American, White, and all other choices placed in Other Race.