East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is an accredited American university located in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents system of colleges and universities, the nation’s sixth largest system of public education and is the fourth largest university in the state. ETSU has off-campus centers in nearby Kingsport and Elizabethton, Tennessee. ETSU was founded as East Tennessee State Normal School, to educate teachers; the K-12 training school, called University School, operates to this day. East Tennessee State officially became a college in 1925 when it changed its name to East Tennessee State Teachers College, subsequently gaining accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1927. In 1943, East Tennessee State Teacher’s College was expanded into a college with a range of liberal arts offerings, becoming East Tennessee State College. The college became a University in 1963, adopting the name it holds today.
East Tennessee State University (ETSU)
