East Tennessee State University is a major education asset in the Northeast Tennessee Valley Region.

The university earned the top score among Tennessee’s public universities in a statewide evaluation of educational quality released in early 2009.

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission examined students' performance on standardized tests of critical thinking and knowledge in their major field, pass rates on licensure exams, employer satisfaction with recent graduates, results of accreditation and academic program reviews, retention and graduation rates, and programs to assist students transferring to ETSU.

The 14,700-student ETSU offers more than 200 undergraduate, graduate and medical degree programs of study in six colleges - Arts & Sciences, Business & Technology, Education, Medicine, Nursing and Public & Allied Health. ETSU conferred its first four-year degrees in 1926 and has added dozens of courses of study since, including doctoral programs in nursing, audiology and physical therapy in the second half of this decade.

The College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy alone have an economic impact on the region pegged at $437.8 million. In addition, the medical college increased family incomes by $162.6 million and created more than 3,800 jobs, according to a university study.

A report by the ETSU Bureau of Business and Economic Research projected that by its second year of operation, the College of Pharmacy would add $10.9 million to the regional economy, which included spending for salaries, supplies, and standard business procedures.

The 350-acre main campus in Johnson City includes more than 60 academic buildings and offices totaling more than 3 million square feet. The 31-acre Veterans Affairs campus, which includes the university's James H. Quillen College of Medicine, includes 10 buildings and more than 600,000 square feet of space.