Tennessee

Tennessee possesses a climate advantageous for people and agriculture, with abundant rainfall and a long, temperate growing season. The area generally is free from the long droughts and freezes of more extreme climes. The three major rivers that flow around and across Tennessee — the Mississippi, Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers — have created watersheds which cover most of the state. The Tennessee River forms near Knoxville and flows in a southwesterly direction into Alabama, then loops back north to the Kentucky border. The Cumberland River drains northern Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee is covered by a network of sluggish streams, swamps and lakes which flow directly into the Mississippi River.

Today, Tennessee is enjoying one of the strongest eras of economic prosperity in its 200-year history, with record low unemployment and a per capita income of $21,000, more than double that of a decade earlier. Since the 1960s, Tennessee's economy has been strengthened by its diversity, making it less vulnerable to recessions than other, single-industry states. Tourism and entertainment, a burgeoning medical and hospital industry, and banking and insurance have combined with a strong agribusiness and manufacturing base to turn Tennessee into a major player in the nation's economy.

Graduate Studies in Tennessee

The state of Tennessee offers many opportunities for graduate students, both international and out-side the state, to study at its higher education institutions. Public higher education in Tennessee is governed by two boards: The Tennessee Board of Regents which oversees 6 universities, 13 community colleges, and 26 technology centers and the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees which oversees 4 universities, including a health science institution.

These institutions offer graduate and undergraduate programs, as well as post-secondary diplomas and certificates to over 220 thousand students accounting for 77.3% of the students enrolled in both public and private institutions. The public university campuses vary in size from 2500 students to over 26,000 students and each are unique in their mission offering many opportunities from general studies to research.

Tennessee public universities offer close to 200 graduate degree programs from the graduate certificate level through the doctoral level. The greatest number of graduate programs is at the master's level including degrees in the arts, humanities, sciences, education, engineering, and health related areas. Over 50 professional and doctoral level degrees are offered including law, medicine, dentistry, nursing, education, philosophy, music, and veterinarian medicine.

Science, Music and Culture

Tennessee continues to produce distinguished figures in science and the arts.

In 1977 Alex Haley of Henning was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Roots, the most successful book ever penned by a Tennessean and one largely responsible for reviving popular interest in family history. Two members of the Vanderbilt University faculty, Earl Sutherland in 1971 and Stanley Cohen in 1987, won Nobel Prizes for their pioneering medical research.

Few Americans have ever matched the personal popularity of Memphian Elvis Presley, the "King of Rock-n-Roll," whose recordings for Memphis' Sun Records Studio in the mid-1950s launched a new era in popular music. The classic rock-n-roll music of Elvis and his fellow performers at Sun, as well as the rhythm-and-blues "Memphis sound" represented by Stax Records, have achieved worldwide renown.

Also global in its impact is the Nashville-based country music industry: a multi-billion dollar business employing a large community of professional songwriters, producers and engineers in addition to the musicians and singers. Country music attractions, particularly live music and the new Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, are an important element of Tennessee's $2 billion-a-year tourism industry. Elvis' home Graceland, in fact, is the most visited celebrity museum in the country.

Sport

Sports have long been a popular entertainment and source of pride for Tennesseans. The University of Tennessee's Lady Vols under Coach Pat Head Summitt set the standard of excellence for women’s collegiate basketball by winning six national championships between 1987 and 1998.

The football team of the University of Tennessee reached the pinnacle of college football in 1998 by going undefeated and being crowned national champions. Professional sports, too, have come to Tennessee in a big way, with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, the NHL's Nashville Predators hockey club, and the NFL's Tennessee Titans football team. The Titans went to the Super Bowl and two AFC Championships between 1998 and 2003, during which time they were the winningest team in the NFL.