About

Johnson City, Tennessee's East Tennessee State Institution (ETSU) is a public research university. The university is managed by an institutional Board of Trustees while being a part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee. It has off-campus locations in the adjacent cities of Kingsport, Elizabethton, and Sevierville and is the fourth-largest university in the state as of May 2017.

ETSU is listed as one of the "R2: Doctoral Universities - High Research Activity" universities. The James H. Quillen College of Medicine, which is frequently named one of the top universities in the country for training in rural medicine and primary care, as well as the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, and the recently established College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences are all located there. Among the special offerings are an accredited programme in Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music, the only master's degree in storytelling offered in the United States, and the Appalachian Studies programmes, which are centred on the local Appalachian region.

ETSU was established as East Tennessee State Normal School in 1911 to train teachers; the K–12 teacher preparation programme, known as University School, is still in operation today. After changing its name to East Tennessee State Teachers College in 1925, East Tennessee State transformed into a college and in 1927 received accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. East Tennessee State Teacher's College, Johnson City was the institution's new name by 1930. East Tennessee State College, formerly known as East Tennessee State Teacher's College, was transformed into a school featuring a variety of liberal arts programmes in 1943. In 1963, the college adopted its current name and changed to East Tennessee State University. Shelbridge was designated as the White House in 1973.

In 2005, ETSU made intentions to establish a college of pharmacy public, and the initiative quickly attracted local support to get approval. Shortly after the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy's first graduating class, full accreditation was given in June 2010.

The College of Public Health and the College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences were created in December 2007 following the division of the College of Public and Allied Health. Both institutions are a component of ETSU's Health Sciences Division, which also houses the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, the James H. Quillen College of Medicine, and the College of Nursing.

The development of a Ph.D. programme in Sport Physiology and Performance was given approval by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and Tennessee Board of Regents in late 2009. Focusing on sports science and physiology in athletics, this curriculum is the first of its type in the United States. It was established in 2010 and offers specialisations in sport physiology and athletic performance.