To participate in the Academic Common Market, an applicant must be a Tennessee resident and unconditionally accepted into an approved ACM program. Tennessee residency is established by being domiciled in Tennessee over the previous 12 months. College attendance does not apply to establishing or relinquishing residency status. Only students who have been unconditionally accepted into ACM programs are eligible for participation. There can be no conditions, probations, or provisions associated with your admissions status. Your acceptance letter must show the degree level and major (including concentrations), so that it exactly matches the information as listed in the ACM Inventory for Tennessee Residents. You may submit additional information from the institution’s admission office, your academic advisor, or the student registration system as needed to demonstrate unconditional program acceptance.
Print and mail the Tennessee ACM application along with a copy of your driver’s license and a copy of your unconditional acceptance letter. You may only submit documents that include your social security number by postal mail. You may submit all other documents by email, fax, or postal mail.
THEC will process your application within five business days. If your application is incomplete, you will be contacted at the phone number provided on the application. When completed, the state coordinator will send by postal mail the ACM certification form to the institution and to you at the address you provided. Please note, certifications are valid only for the specific institution and major stated on the form.
Over 1,800 programs at the baccalaureate and higher degree levels in over 140 public colleges and universities currently participate in the ACM. The complete ACM Inventory for Tennessee Residents is below.
If the program you are interested in is not in the ACM Inventory for Tennessee Residents, but the degree program is not offered at any of the public universities in the state of Tennessee, then complete the Program Nomination Form. Each student may only nominate one program for ACM addition. The curriculum will be reviewed by external reviewers at the Tennessee Board of Regents and the University of Tennessee to make certain 51 percent or more of the program is not currently offered in Tennessee. If a similar program is not available in Tennessee, the state coordinator will ask that the program be added to the ACM inventory. The university whose program you have requested can either add the program to the inventory or reject the request. You will be notified once the request has been reviewed and a decision made. Please note that this process takes, on average, three months to complete.
Not all states and institutions are currently accepting program nominations. For additional program criteria and limitations for states and institutions, see the ACM Limitations document below.
Tennessee State ACM Coordinator
404 James Robertson Parkway
Nashville, TN 37243
Phone: (615) 741-7572
Fax: (615) 741-6230
acm.coordinator@tn.gov