KINGSPORT — Tusculum and Milligan are coming to downtown Kingsport later this year.
According to Morris Baker, director of grants and higher education initiatives for the city, both colleges are interested in bringing programs and courses to Kingsport’s Academic Village beginning in the fall of 2013, specifically within the Kingsport Center for Higher Education.
Last week, Tusculum and Milligan officials made their proposals to the Kingsport Higher Education Commission, the oversight board for the academic village. Commissioners voted unanimously to approve both colleges coming to downtown.
“This approval is only the first step for both institutions to enter KCHE and both must work out specifics within their respective college systems before course work will be brought,” Baker said. Baker said Tusculum and Milligan are looking to offer day, evening and weekend courses beginning in the fall of 2013.
Courses would include nursing, business administration, child and youth development, health care management, psychology and interdisciplinary studies. The initiative would bring the total number of programs offered at KCHE to 32.
“We value the partnerships with all the higher education institutions in our downtown area and look forward to continue working with each in helping students achieve the goal of a postsecondary degree,” Baker said.
Milligan College is a nationally recognized Christian liberal arts college located in Carter County, with its origins dating back to 1866. The college has 1,200 students from 35 states and 15 countries and offers undergraduate, master’s, and degree completion programs.
Tusculum College, located in Greeneville, holds the distinction of being Tennessee’s first college. Established in 1794, Tusculum provides a liberal arts education in a Judeo-Christian and civic arts environment, with pathways for career preparation, personal development and civic engagement. In the fall of 2011, the college had just over 1,900 students enrolled.
“These two extremely well established and reputable institutions ... know that we have a very good program going with (the) higher education center and the entire academic village, and it’s desirable on their part to be in on that,” said John Williams, chairman of the commission. “The bottom line is the citizens of our region and Kingsport are all benefiting from having access to higher education.”
Kingsport’s Academic Village is composed of five higher education facilities, built over the past decade, in the heart of downtown where nearly 2,200 students take courses in more than 20 programs including nursing, business administration, education, manufacturing and automotive. KCHE is a multi-institution higher education facility with courses currently offered by Northeast State Community College, the University of Tennessee, LMU and King College.