Move-in day is done, and classes have begun in Knoxville for the University of Tennessee. More students than ever are expected to be in attendance for yet another record-breaking semester for enrollment.

UT announced last week that more than 40,000 students are enrolled for fall 2025, breaking last year’s record of 36,000 students leading into the first day of class. The final fall 2025 enrollment will be announced after the 14th day of class.

UT says the popularity is due, in part, to the revord breaking 90% retention rate of first-year students, which the university “expects to meet or exceed,” according to a UT news release. This semester’s first year class is more than 7,100, selected from nearly 63,000 applications.

“They come to us eager to experience our commitment to providing them with an unparalleled student experience, from the classroom to Neyland Stadium and everything in between,” Provost John Zomchick noted in the University’s release. “Our new Volunteers start their collegiate journeys on a campus that has never looked better and has never been better prepared to help them become the next generation of innovators and leaders in service to their communities, states ,and country.” 

This is unlikely to be the peak for UT’s enrollment boom. The percentage of Tennessee’s high school graduates is projected to increase by 2041, and the university is prioritizing Tennesseans as it continues to aim for 41,000 students enrolled on campus in 2030 (plus 14,000 online).

UT provided additional details about the composition of the Fall enrollment. All 95 Tennessee counties are represented, along with 46 states(plus Washington, D.C.) and 33 countries. However, 60% of the incoming class is from Tennessee.

The University continues to welcome a lot of first-generation college students. More than 14.5% of students in the first-year class are the first in their families to attend college.

UT broke another record, with 5,300 transfer applications for the Fall semester. Of the more than 1,600 transfer students admitted to UT, 1,100 are from within in the state.