The Student Equity standard is designed to incentivize institutions to qualitatively and quantitatively improve outcomes for populations historically underserved in higher education in alignment with the Tennessee Higher Education Master Plan. This standard directs institutions to enhance the quality of student services and institutional support to increase equity in student outcomes. Through an institutional self-assessment and engagement with students of the target population, institutions will create a plan to address strengths and areas needing improvement in order to develop measurable and achievable objectives to improve the services and experiences of students in the selected population. Institutions will also be evaluated on their success in improving student equity through an increase in undergraduate retention rates for students in the target population.
During the 2020-25 Quality Assurance Funding cycle, ETSU originally selected students of color as the focus population. However, in light of the Supreme Court decision regarding race-conscious college admission, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) required ETSU to choose a different focus population. First-generation students were selected as the new focus population.