Tennessee Code Annotated

Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-213 (2026)

Property of certain educational institutions

✓ current as of May 2026

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(a) Real estate owned by an educational institution and used primarily for dormitory purposes for its students, even though other student activities are incidentally conducted therein, and even though the student's spouse or children may reside therein, is exempt from taxation.

(b) A residence and no more than three (3) acres of its surrounding grounds, owned by a college or university and used as the home of its chief executive officer, is exempt from taxation, whether or not located on the campus of the college or university, if the chief executive officer of the institution is required to reside there as a condition of employment.

(c)
- (1) Residential units owned by a nonprofit college or university or nonprofit secondary school that boards all or some of its students and located on or immediately adjoining its campus are exempt from taxation, if such residential units meet all of the following criteria:
  - (A) The unit is occupied by a member of the faculty or staff of the institution;
  - (B) Such occupancy is required as a condition of that person's employment as a convenience for the institution or to attend to plant or equipment;
  - (C) The institution that owns the unit receives no income from the unit except a reasonable service and maintenance fee;
  - (D) The employee occupying the unit receives no equity of ownership or any other thing of permanent or transferable value from occupancy of the unit;
  - (E) The right of the employee to occupy the unit ends with such employee's tenure on the faculty or staff of that institution; and
  - (F) The unit is occupied wholly by the employee and the employee's immediate family.
- (2) The exemption from taxation provided by this section to a nonprofit college or university or nonprofit secondary school that boards all or some of its students applies only to a number of residential units equal to those owned by the college or university or private school as of July 1, 1981, plus five (5) residential units per institution in addition to those already owned by that institution. The limitation of exemption of this subdivision (c)(2) to the residential units owned by a nonprofit college or university or nonprofit secondary school in 1981, plus five (5) residential units shall not apply to an institution chartered before 1930, whose entire original campus is an historical and integral entity, so long as the residential units owned by such nonprofit college or university or nonprofit secondary school satisfy the criteria of subdivision (c)(1).
- (3) This subsection (c) does not apply to any institution in any county having a population of not less than two hundred fifty-four thousand (254,000) nor more than two hundred fifty-five thousand (255,000), according to the 1970 federal census or any subsequent federal census.

(d)
- (1) A bookstore, owned by a college or university, located on the campus of the owning institution, and operated not-for-profit to furnish students at that institution with textbooks and other ancillary required materials is exempt from taxation, even though the bookstore may sell other items of a souvenir nature, such as wearing apparel, glassware, and china embossed with the name, seal or logo of the institution, or items such as toiletries or stationery supplies for the convenience of students.
- (2) This subsection (d) does not apply to any institution in any county having a population of not less than two hundred fifty-four thousand (254,000) nor more than two hundred fifty-five thousand (255,000), according to the 1970 federal census or any subsequent federal census.

(e) This section applies only to nonprofit educational institutions.

Acts 1973, ch. 226, § 5; 1981, ch. 296, § 1; 1981, ch. 486, §§ 1-3; T.C.A., § 67-514; Acts 1984, ch. 809, § 2; 1993, ch. 168, §§ 1, 2; 1995, ch. 163, § 1.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 2004–2015 · leading case: Christ Church Pentecostal v. Tennessee State Bd. of Equalization, 428 S.W.3d 800 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2013).

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Christ Church Pentecostal v. Tennessee State Bd. of Equalization, 428 S.W.3d 800 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2013). “Tennessee Code Annotated § 67-5-212(b)(3)(B) extends the effective date of exemption for property acquired by one religious institution from another.”

Youth Programs, Inc. v. Tennessee State Bd. of Equalization, 170 S.W.3d 92 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 4× “As noted by the supreme court, following the decision of the Board of Equalization in George Peabody College, the legislature enacted section 67 — 502, currently section 67-5-213, which provides: (a) Real estate owned by an educational institution and used primarily for…”

Vanderbilt Univ. v. Tennessee State Bd. of Equalization (Tenn. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 14× “§ 67-5 - 212(a)(1), or the dormitory exemption, Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-213 (a). The State Board of Equalization (“SBOE”) denied Vanderbilt‟s application, and Vanderbilt sought administrative review.”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-213(2003) — 1 case

Youth Programs, Inc. v. Tennessee State Bd. of Equalization, 170 S.W.3d 92 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004). “As noted by the supreme court, following the decision of the Board of Equalization in George Peabody College, the legislature enacted section 67 — 502, currently section 67-5-213, which provides: (a) Real estate owned by an educational institution and used primarily for…”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-213(a) — 1 case

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