Nashville State Community College
Nashville State Community College is a public community college in Nashville, Tennessee. It is operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents and shares a 109-acre (0.44 km2) campus with the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Nashville. The Nashville State facilities include 239,000 square feet (22,200 m2) of space for classrooms, labs, offices, student services, and a library. Nashville State offers a wide array of programs and degrees including: associate degree and technical certificate studies, university parallel transfer programs to four-year institutions, continuing education, adult education, two Early College High School's, Dual Enrollment and community service programs.
 Campus of Nashville State | |
| Type | Public community college |
|---|---|
| Established | 1970 |
| President | Dr. Shanna L. Jackson |
| Undergraduates | 9,853 |
| Location | , , United States 36.1349°N 86.8568°W |
| Campus | Urban, 109 acres (0.44 km2) |
| Website | www.nscc.edu |
 | |
Nashville State serves a seven county service area of Middle Tennessee, which includes Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery, and Stewart counties.
Nashville State is an open-entry postsecondary institution with flexible on-campus, online, virtual and hybrid options for more than 80 majors of study toward an associate degree degree and technical certificate programs.
Nashville State offers an Associate of Arts (A.A.), Associate of Fine Arts (A.F.A.), Associate of Science (A.S.), Associate of Science Teaching (A.S.T.) and Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree and 32 certificate programs. In addition, Nashville State offers paid apprenticeships in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management, and Industrial Process Control Technology, along with continuing education courses ranging from technical skills to management training and programs providing training in such areas as computer-aided drafting and office technology.
More graduates of Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS or Metro Schools) attend Nashville State than any other institution. To help MNPS graduates prepare for, attend, and complete college, Nashville State and Metro Schools launched a joint venture in early 2020 called 'Better Together.' The overarching goals for the joint venture are to expand college access, boost college persistence and completion, and significantly improve student outcomes for both systems – with a particular focus on closing all achievement, equity, and opportunity gaps to expand student opportunities and to build our regional workforce. Nashville State has two Early College’s in association with Metro Schools. One is located on the White Bridge campus. The second was launched in October 2021, on the campus of Whites Creek High School in North Nashville.
Student life
There are dozens of student organizations, sponsored by the Office of Student Life. Notably, there is a Student Government Association, Green Sleeves environmental club, and Science Student Association.
History
It has its origins in a planned redevelopment of a campus on White Bridge Road which was formerly the site of Thayer Hospital, a hospital operated by what is now the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. When the hospital was relocated adjacent to Vanderbilt University and its Medical Center in the 1960s, part of its former campus became the home of Nashville State Technical Institute.
NSTI or Nashville Tech, as it was generally known, was formed to supply the training needed for positions requiring only the Associate's degree or professional certificates, but also to provide the beginning years of a more advanced technical education. At first, liberal arts offerings were essentially the minimum required for the institution to meet these goals, but the plan was always for NSTI to become a full community college. Nashville State opened in 1970 with an enrollment of 398 students.
As time went by, and liberal arts offerings increased somewhat, the school was used more and more by students who were looking to complete the first two years of a four-year degree at a more affordable cost. Some of these students found that credits earned at NSTI were hard to transfer to other accredited schools outside of the Tennessee Board of Regents system. A revamping of the curriculum was put in place to address this concern, and concurrently the institution was renamed Nashville State Community College, a pattern which had already been established at the other, similar urban technical institutes in the state.
Unlike other community colleges operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents, Nashville State does not conduct any intercollegiate athletics programs. Under the terms of a judicial consent decree, Nashville State must carefully tailor its offerings so as not to be in direct competition for students with Tennessee State University, a historically black university also located in Nashville, which has been ordered by federal court to achieve a higher degree of racial integration.
Campuses
Nashville State offers classes and programs throughout its seven county service area. There are seven campuses offering classes: White Bridge campus (in west Nashville), Clarksville campus (in Montgomery County], East Davidson campus (in Donelson), North Davidson campus (in Madison), Humphreys County campus (in Waverly), Southeast campus (in Antioch), and the Dickson campus (in Dickson County).
White Bridge campus
The White Bridge campus (Davidson County), sometimes referred to as the main campus, is located at 120 White Bridge Rd, Nashville. The White Bridge campus is home to the College's Heatlhcare professions division, which features: Central Sterile Processing Technology, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, and Surgical Technology. Nashville State offers a robust Information Technology programs, ranging from Coding Bootcamps to stackable technical certificate and Associate of Science and Associate of Applied Science degrees. In addition to a litany of other program offerings, there is a state-of-the-art Music Technology studio and lab. Facilities on the White Bridge campus include classrooms, healthcare simulation rooms, offices, student services, library, two auditoriums for musical performances, events and conferences, a music recording studio, art gallery, and student gathering spots. The Mayfield Library is in the Kisber Building. In partnership with Metro Nashville Public Schools, an Early College is located on campus for high school students.
Southeast
The Southeast campus (Davidson County) is located at 5248 Hickory Hollow Parkway in Nashville. The Southeast campus is home to the Randy Rayburn School of Culinary Arts, with its state-of-the-art kitchen and classrooms and a Hospitality program. It is also home of Nashville State's Law Enforcement Academy. Additionally, Students at the Southeast Campus can take courses applicable toward an Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Arts, or Associate of Science degrees. Students can also enroll ESL classes and College Prep classes.
North Davidson
To increase accessibility to higher education for Tennesseans, Nashville State has constructed a campus in the norther quadrant of Davidson County. The address is 1520 Gallatin Pike North, Madison. The College broke ground in late June 2020. The campus will be open to the community in late spring 2022, with classes starting in August 2022 for the fall term. The campus layout allows for future growth.
East Davidson
The East Davidson campus is located at 2845 Elm Hill Pike, Nashville, TN 37214. At present, classes served from this campus are online or virtual.
Humphreys County
The Humphreys County campus is located at 695 Holly Lane in Waverly. Students at the Humphreys County Campus can take courses applicable toward an Associate of Applied Science in Process Control Technology, General Technology—Options: Business or Technical Concentration, Business Management—Options: Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Financial Services, and Marketing, as well as the General Education core leading to an Associate of Arts, or Associate of Science degree. The Humphreys County campus also has Industrial Process Control Technology simulation rooms.
Dickson
The Dickson campus is located at The Renaissance Center, 855 Highway 46 South. Students at the Dickson Site can take courses applicable toward an Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Arts, or Associate of Science degrees.
Clarksville
The Clarksville campus is located at 1760 Wilma Rudolph Blvd. Clarksville, TN 37040. The campus offers 15 associate degree programs and four technical certificate programs. Nashville State has partnered with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) and Austin Peay State University on a Teacher Residency Program. This program is available to CMCSS classified employees and graduating seniors, and Montgomery County residents.
Cookeville
This campus is now part of the Vol State Community College as an extended campus and no longer part of Nashville State Community College.
Notable People
- [Milton Johnson], businessman and philanthropist, retired chairman and chief executive officer-HCA
- [Amy Kurland], founder of the Bluebird Café
- [Joey Hatch], retired construction executive, current TN Board of Regents representing 7th Congressional District