The Tennessee College of Applied Technology Livingston is one of 24 TCATs and 37 total institutions in the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) system that are located across the state, serving the citizens of Tennessee. The TBR and the Board of Trustees of the University of Tennessee System are coordinated by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC). THEC was created by the General Assembly in 1967 to achieve coordination and unity in the programs of public higher education in Tennessee. The TBR system was created by legislation enacted by the 1963 General Assembly of Tennessee, Chapter 229 of House Bill 633. Chapter 181, Senate Bill 746-House Bill 697, of the Public Act of 1983 transferred the governance of the state technical institutes and area vocational-technical schools from the State Board of Education to the Tennessee Board of Regents. The transfer became effective on July 1, 1983. By action of the Tennessee Legislature in 1994, the school name changed from Livingston State Area Vocational Technical School to Tennessee Technology Center at Livingston. In 2013, the Legislature unanimously approved changing the name of the state’s technology centers to the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology.

The Tennessee Board of Regents, the governing body for TCAT Livingston, underwent a major shift in 2017 because of the FOCUS Act of 2016 and the appointment of a new Chancellor, Dr. Flora Tydings. The FOCUS Act seeks to ensure the state’s Community Colleges and TCATs are organized, supported, and empowered in efforts to increase the percentage of Tennesseans with a postsecondary credential. Largely this involved the development of local governing boards for each of the six universities thus allowing TBR a greater focus on the 13 community Colleges and 24 TCATs. Additional TBR efforts under the leadership of Dr. Tydings included the retitling of the chief administrative officers of the TCATs Director to President; the movement towards all 37 campuses in the TBR system operating with shared services; and, the restructuring of the TBR organization uniting the community and TCATs through common offices and services.

In 2024, The Tennessee Board of Regents approved the merger of TCAT Crossville and TCAT Livingston to become TCAT Upper Cumberland. 

Livingston Campus

A statewide system of State Area Vocational-Technical Schools was established by the enactment of the state Legislature during the 1963 General Assembly to be operated by the Tennessee State Board of Education.

The contract for the first building was awarded in February 1964, and ultimately, 26 of these schools were built in order to offer occupational training to as many Tennessee citizens as possible. All schools were to have modern facilities, flexible plans of operation, and competent instructors selected from the field of work in which they teach.

The LIVINGSTON STATE AREA VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL SCHOOL was the tenth of the 26 schools to be built and the first classes began in September 1966. The first graduates received their diplomas in December 1967.

The site selected for the school was a 15-acre plot on Airport Road just outside (at the time) of Livingston. The land was deeded to the State of Tennessee by Overton County. Construction of the buildings cost approximately $310,000 and the equipment cost around $500,000.

Livingston was chosen as the site for the school because of its central location in the area it was to serve (Overton, Clay, Fentress, Pickett, Putnam, and Jackson counties.)

In 1976, a building was constructed at the school to accommodate the High School Comprehensive Vocational programs for Overton and Pickett County students.

The school was governed by the Tennessee Department of Education from its opening until 1983 when it was assigned to the Tennessee Board of Regents as an institution of higher education. In July of 1994, the name was changed to “Tennessee Technology Center at Livingston.”

On July 1, 2013, the name was changed to The Tennessee College of Applied Technology Livingston. The name change more accurately reflects the post-secondary training provided to students in our service area. The Tennessee Technology Centers have always been higher education institutions, offering postsecondary programs for workforce preparation. But the previous “center” title was often misunderstood.

The name change was made possible through legislation introduced by representative Harry Brooks and Senator Jim Tracy and signed into law by Governor Bill Haslam.

The six buildings on main campus house classrooms, labs, offices, and support services for full-time, part-time, secondary, supplemental, special industry and public programs.