The state assumed responsibility for education in 1873, when the legislature established a permanent school fund and made schools free to all persons between the ages of 6 and 21. In 1917, an eight-year elementary and four-year secondary school system was set up. Thirty years later, enactment of the state sales and use tax enabled state authorities to increase teachers' salaries by about 100% and to provide capital funds for a variety of expanded educational programs. In the early 1980s, Tennessee further improved its educational system by offering incentive pay to its teachers. more than half of the state's consolidated state budget is spent on education.
The 21st Century Schools Program adopted by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1992 provided K-12 public schools with nearly $1 billion in new state dollars—an increase of 90%. The program repealed 3,700 state rules and regulations, gave communities wide discretion over education decision-making, made local school systems more accountable for results, and funded 5,450 high-tech classrooms in Tennessee's public schools. In 1996/97, Tennessee pioneered a statewide network connecting every public school to museums, libraries, and databases available on the World Wide Web. Tennessee's Literacy 2000 initiative (begun in 1987) improved the adult literacy rate by 24% in its first four years.
In 2000, 75.9% of Tennessee residents age 25 and older were high school graduates; 19.6% had obtained a bachelor's degree or higher. The total enrollment for fall 1999 in Tennessee's public schools stood at 916,202. Of these, 664,393 attended schools from kindergarten through grade eight, and 251,809 attended high school. Minority students made up approximately 29% of the total enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools in 2001. Total enrollment is expected to reach 954,000 in fall 2000 and 987,000 by fall 2005. Public school expenditures per pupil were $5,255 in 1999/2000. Expenditures for public education in 2000/01 were estimated at $5,189,243. Enrollment in nonpublic schools in fall 2001 was 93,680.
As of fall 2000, there were 287,550 students enrolled in college or graduate school. In the same year Tennessee had 87 degree-granting institutions. The University of Tennessee system has principal campuses at Knoxville, Memphis, Martin, and Chattanooga. Components of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee include Memphis State University (the largest), Tennessee Technological University at Cookeville, East Tennessee State University at Johnson City, Austin Peay State University at Clarksville, Tennessee State University at Nashville, and Middle Tennessee State University at Murfreesboro, along with 14 two-year community colleges located throughout the state. Well-known private colleges are Vanderbilt University at Nashville, the University of the South at Sewanee, and Rhodes College at Memphis. Vanderbilt has schools of medicine, law, divinity, nursing, business, and education, as well as an undergraduate program. In 1997, minority students comprised 18.7% of total postsecondary enrollment. Loan and grant programs are administered by the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation.