The Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCAT) is a publictechnical college system operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. It has 24 campuses located throughout the US state of Tennessee.[1] It was previously named the Tennessee Technology Centers.
TCAT was founded as the State Area Vocational-Technical Schools. Construction began on the first three urban locations, Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville, in July 1966.[3] The Knoxville campus opened in January 1968.[4] In 1994, State Area Vocational-Technical Schools were rebranded as Tennessee Technology Centers.[5] Tennessee Technology Centers received praise from Complete College America in a 2011 report for their high degree completion rate of 75 percent.[6]
In July 2013, Tennessee Technology Centers was rebranded as Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology to clearly communicate the post-secondary training offered.[7]
TCAT offers numerous programs and has partnerships with businesses. The Memphis campus offers a welding apprenticeship program with Morgan Steel company.[13]
