Believe it or not, there are people out there watching out for Tennessee college students.

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) is a resource for Tennessee higher education facilities to use to continue unity and balance among the schools around the state.

Created in 1967 by the Tennessee General Assembly, it coordinates the activities of the Tennessee Board of Regents and the University of Tennessee board of trustees. This organization which serves over 200,000 students across the state is not widely known.

While student fees have risen sharply over the last decade, THEC is still striving for all Tennesseans to attend a post-secondary school in order to acquire skills necessary for the 21st century.

“THEC prevents all the institutions in the state of Tennessee from going to Nashville and lobbying. Theoretically, THEC should not be doing more for UTM than they do for any other school.. They are here to be sure funds are distributed equally across Tennessee,” said UTM chancellor Nick Dunagan.

According to the University of Tennessee website, about 13,000 students in the state qualified financial assistance but were unable to acquire the money due to a lack of funding. Per capita income in the state has been below the national average in recent years and the number of part-time students is increasing. The state continues to push higher education to develop partnerships to be used later on and to acquire knowledge in a specific area of study.

“Although our state budget is in critical shape, we as students are presented with two choices: we can stand by and watch our state legislators struggle with the decision to increase funding for higher education or we can take advantage of the opportunity that has presented itself to students across the state,” said Betsey Kirk, THEC student representative.

The THEC has impacted the entire state. UT did a study and results concluded that the system has impacted over 65 percent of citizens. This influence has not helped the budget. Students who need financial assistance are unable to it, potential students are unable to attend college because of lack of funding.

UT president Dr. John W. Shumaker is now looking towards private donations to help fund the schools in the system. The money donated will not only help fund necessities for each school but will also go towards enhancing the school environment.

“Many people have this false impression that the state pays 100 percent (of UT’s operating costs),” Shumaker said to the Tennessean on Monday.

The amount of operating costs that the systems pays is only approximately 35 percent.

The main goal of the THEC is to represent the students and aide them in acquiring funding to continue their education to later take on strong leadership positions that will subsequently play a pivotal role in the economic development of the state.

For more information on the pivotal role THEC plays in UTM’s future and to read the complete five year plan created in 2000 and revised in 2002, visit http://www.utm.edu/planofaction.doc.