Birmingham, Alabama, is the newest out-of-state city Middle Tennessee State University’s top administrators, deans and staff members will visit this fall for the annual True Blue Tour to recruit prospective students.

Birmingham will be the 12th and final stop for the tour, which begins in early October and ends in November. MTSU ventures to Birmingham Wednesday, Nov. 8, following a Tuesday, Nov. 7, trip to Huntsville.

Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, Nov. 2, and Bowling Green and Louisville, Kentucky, on Wednesday, Oct. 11, Thursday, Oct. 12, respectively, are other scheduled stopovers for MTSU outside Tennessee. MTSU promotes its Regional Scholars Program and Academic Common Market in Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky.

An energized crowd attends the True Blue Tour event last year in Nashville in this November 2016 photo. Nashville will be the second stop on the 2017 True Blue Tour Thursday, Oct. 5, at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel, 2025 Rosa L. Parks Blvd. (MTSU file photo by Randy Weiler)

In Tennessee, MTSU visits Franklin Tuesday, Oct. 3; Nashville Thursday, Oct. 5; Memphis Tuesday, Oct. 17; Jackson Wednesday, Oct. 18; Johnson City Wednesday, Oct. 25; Knoxville Thursday, Oct. 26; and Chattanooga Wednesday, Nov. 1.

Dr. Sidney A. McPhee

Dr. Mark Byrnes

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and Provost Mark Byrnes will join other administrators and deans from the university’s eight academic colleges, advisers and counselors from the admissions and financial aid offices on the tour.

They will be on hand to answer questions from prospective students, potential transfer students and their parents at the events.

The events are free. To register, visit www.mtsu.edu/schedule-a-visit/special-events.php.

Student receptions begin at 6 p.m. local time. Area high school counselors and community college staff are invited to attend 11:30 a.m. luncheons at all sites except Johnson City.

Fall 2017 MTSU True Blue Tour reception sites include:

• Oct. 3 — Franklin Marriott Cool Springs, 700 Cool Springs Blvd., Franklin.
• Oct. 5 — Millennium Maxwell House, 2025 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., Nashville.
• Oct. 11 — Holiday Inn University Plaza, 1021 Wilkinson Trace, Bowling Green.
• Oct. 12 — Hilton Garden Inn Louisville Airport, 2735 Crittenden Drive, Louisville.
• Oct. 17 — Esplande Memphis, 901 Cordova Station Ave., Cordova.
• Oct. 18 — Jackson Country Club, 31 Jackson Country Club Lane, Jackson.
• Oct. 25 — The Millennium Centre, 2001 Millennium Place, Johnson City.
• Oct. 26 — The Foundry, 747 World’s Fair Park Drive, Knoxville.
• Nov. 1 — Chattanooga Convention Center, 1 Carter Plaza, Chattanooga.
• Nov. 2 — Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravina, 4355 Ashford Dunwoddy Road, Atlanta.
• Nov. 7 — U.S. Space & Rocket Center, 1 Tranquility Base, Huntsville.
• Nov. 8 — Embassy Suites Birmingham-Hoover, 2960 John Hawkins Parkway, Birmingham.

Linda Olsen

Linda Olsen, director of undergraduate recruitment, encourages prospective students and their families to “plan to join MTSU as we visit a city near you. We will be traveling from our campus in Murfreesboro to share our True Blue spirit with those who want to learn more about MTSU.”

“The True Blue Tour is a great opportunity to come out and meet President McPhee, our college deans, departmental advisers and enrollment staff who can help show you how to join our MTSU family,” Olsen added.

McPhee calls the True Blue Tours “the highlight of our recruitment events.”

“MTSU’s contingent traveled to these tour stops to present information about admissions, scholarships, financial aid and academic programs to nearly 3,000 prospective students and family members,” he said.

McPhee said alumni and friends of the university from across Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky also are welcome to attend.

The university’s Regional Scholars Program allows select non-Tennessee resident students who live within 250 miles of MTSU and meet specific academic requirements to attend MTSU at a greatly reduced rate and qualify for the Freshman Academic Merit Scholarships.

Qualifying students receive a reduced tuition rate roughly half of the standard out-of-state rate. Students participating in the Academic Common Market program may receive even lower rates.

To learn more about the Regional Scholars Program, visit www.mtsu.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/regional-scholars.php. To learn about the Academic Common Market, visit www.mtsu.edu/acm.

Fall Preview Days are scheduled Saturday, Sept. 23, and Saturday, Nov. 4, both starting at 8 a.m. in the Student Union. High school, community college and graduate students and counselors, as well as parents, can register to attend any MTSU Admissions events by going to www.mtsu.edu/schedule-a-visit/special-events.php.

For more information, email admissions@mtsu.edu or call 615-898-2233.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)

Dr. Philip Phillips, right, associate dean for the MTSU Honors College, points out information in the college’s brochures to Sarah Zakaria as her father, Radwan Zakaria, listens in this October 2016 file photo during the university’s True Blue Tour at the Franklin, Tenn., Marriott Cool Springs. Zakaria graduated from Independence High School in Thompson’s Station and is a freshman mechatronics engineering major this fall at MTSU. The 2017 tour begins Tuesday, Oct. 3, in Franklin. (MTSU file photo by Randy Weiler)