Tennessee Wesleyan College

Tennessee Wesleyan College (TWC) is a small liberal arts university founded in 1857, located in the city of Athens in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is affiliated with the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. Current enrollment is over 1,100 students, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 12:1.

The college is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate and master's degrees of business, fine arts, humanities, natural and social sciences as well as nursing, other career-related areas, and teacher certification. Through these several academic offerings the college has developed a close relationship with its region and produces a large number of local teachers, police officers, lawyers and local government officials.

Tennessee Wesleyan also maintains a branch campus in Knoxville, where it offers evening programs in business administration. It also conducts its nursing classes in Knoxville.

Tennessee Wesleyan offers 10 varsity sports, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs compete in the Appalachian Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in baseball, basketball, soccer, cross country, tennis, volleyball, cheerleading, softball and lacrosse. Athletics are a very important part of the school, and a very large portion of the student population play on one of the school's teams.

History
Tennessee Wesleyan was originally founded in 1857 as Athens Female College, and consisted solely of one building (now called Old College). In 1866 the name was changed to East Tennessee Wesleyan College, and in 1867 the name was again altered to East Tennessee Wesleyan University. At that time, the college was one of only a handful of coeducational colleges in the Southern United States.

In 1889, college president John F. Spence changed the name of the school to U.S. Grant Memorial University in an attempt to receive financial support from Northern benefactors. Seventeen years later, the college became a branch campus of the University of Chattanooga (now the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) under the name Athens School of the University of Chattanooga. In 1925, the college split from Chattanooga to become Tennessee Wesleyan College and served as a junior college. Tennessee Wesleyan became a liberal arts college in 1957 when it began awarding bachelor’s degrees.

Articulation agreements
Tennessee Wesleyan College has articulation agreements with Chattanooga State Community College, Cleveland State Community College, Motlow State Community College, Pellissippi State Community College, Roane State Community College and Walters State Community College.

Degrees
Tennessee Wesleyan College offers bachelor of arts and bachelor of sciences degrees in Behavioral Science, Biology, Business Administration, Chemistry, Criminal Justice, Early Human Development and Learning, Education, English, Exercise Science, Music, individualized majors, History, Human Services, International Studies, Mathematics, Nursing, Psychology, Church Vocations, Pre-Seminary, Sociology, and Special Education.

Admissions and rankings
Tennessee Wesleyan College accepts 83.7% of all applicants and is considered "selective" by U.S. News & World Report.

Athletics
Tennessee Wesleyan athletic teams, nicknamed athletically as the Bulldogs, are part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC). Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, cross country, dance, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

Notable alumni

 * Tom Browning, baseball player
 * Ron Campbell, baseball player
 * Chris Cattaneo, soccer player
 * James Alexander Fowler, U.S. Assistant Attorney General and Knoxville mayor
 * Leonard Lomell decorated soldier, attorney, businessman
 * Robert C. Snyder, professor of English at Louisiana Tech University