Following a 1984 study revealing the limited preparation of its entering college freshmen, the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) intervened dramatically on behalf of underprepared students, providing enhanced funding for remedial courses and requiring that students complete remediation before enrolling in any degree program. Based on their standardized pre-admission test scores, students are either admitted to a college unconditionally, or receive additional testing and, if necessary, remedial placement. The effects of the TBR's intervention have been dramatic. Since 1985, at least 50% of each entering class of full-time equivalent (FTE) freshmen under 21 years of age at the state's 12 community colleges, 2 technical institutes, and 6 universities, have been placed in one or more remedial courses. Of the 13,700 FTE new freshmen placed in remedial courses in fall 1991, 81% were enrolled at the state's two-year colleges, representing 85% of all first-time, degree-seeking two-year college students. Among 1991 new students over 21 years of age at two-year institutions, 95% were placed in remedial courses, up from 74% in 1986. The direct costs for remediation at all the state's institutions in 1991-92 totaled $23.1 million, creating a budgetary strain. At one two-year institute, Nashville State Technical Institute (NSTI), total fall enrollments from 1984 through 1992 showed no overall growth, while growth in remedial course enrollments increased by 292%, creating significant structural and funding problems at the institute. While the TBR has made a major commitment to underprepared students, the realities of the state budget and enrollment patterns are creating difficulties for the program's continuance. (PAA)