East Tennessee State University opened in Johnson City on October 2, 1911, as East Tennessee State Normal School to prepare teachers for the public schools of the region. Twenty-nine students walked through the doors that first day of classes. Today, the university's enrollment has surpassed the 13,000 mark, and ETSU focuses on becoming the best regional university in the nation.

Eleven colleges and schools meet the region's diverse needs through more than 100 degree programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, health sciences, and technology. ETSU is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, educational specialist, and doctoral degrees.

ETSU's colleges and schools include the:

• College of Arts and Sciences
• College of Business and Technology
• Claudius G. Clemmer College of Education
• College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences
• Honors College
• James H. Quillen College of Medicine
• College of Nursing
• Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy
• College of Public Health
• School of Continuing Studies
• School of Graduate Studies

The James H. Quillen College of Medicine, which saw the entrance of its first class in 1978, was named in U.S. News & World Report's 2009 edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools" as number four in the nation for excellence in rural medicine education.

While teaching remains the top priority at ETSU, research is also an important institutional mission. Designated by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a "Doctoral/Research University-Intensive," ETSU created a Research Foundation in 2002—the first for any state school in Tennessee—allowing researchers to develop their patent rights.

With full-time faculty and staff members numbering more than 2,000, among them leaders in teaching, research, and service, the university flourishes. Students, often the first in their families to pursue a higher education, have grown up in a region which lauds dedication and assistance to others. Popular service-learning courses are found across the curriculum.

Although tradition is valued at ETSU, unique interests and opportunities abound:

• ETSU is the nation's only institution of higher learning presenting a comprehensive selection of bluegrass and country music courses.
• ETSU's Advanced Visualization Lab is recognized around the globe and provides a look at the future of animation graphics.
• ETSU offers the world's only master's degree in storytelling and reading.
• ETSU's Gray Fossil Site, located in the nearby community of Gray, Tennessee, is one of the richest sources of information about the Miocene epoch in the world. The ETSU and General Shale Brick Natural History Museum and Visitor Center at the Gray Fossil Site opened in August 2007.

In the realm of Intercollegiate Athletics, the ETSU Buccaneers compete within the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Atlantic Sun Conference.

ETSU's hometown is nestled in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The city of 58,000 offers a wide assortment of restaurants, art galleries, coffee shops, cultural events, and outdoor activities. Within a short distance of the campus are the Appalachian Trail, Bristol Motor Speedway, and the snow skiing slopes of Western North Carolina. In addition, the ETSU Wayne G. Basler Center for Physical Activity provides an array of amenities such as a climbing wall, an indoor track, a swimming pool, four basketball courts, and the latest exercise equipment. On its 350-acre tree-shaded campus, ETSU also features a Tennessee Urban Forestry Council-certified arboretum.