All three colleges in Cleveland are accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Cleveland State Community College is a two-year community college governed by the state of Tennessee Board of Regents and approved by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. Lee University and Pentecostal Theological Seminary are also accredited by the Association of Theological Schools.
Cleveland State Community College is a publicly operated two-year community college with a student enrollment of approximately 3,500 students, as of February 1, 2011, Additionally, the school offers workshops and personal enrichment classes to about 1,500 students.The faculty consists of more than 70 members with about 94 percent of the faculty holding master's or doctorate degrees. CSCC's 105-acre campus consists of 10 major buildings for classrooms, lab work, and student activities. About half of the students at CSCC transfer to four-year universities while the other half participate in career and trade certification and/or licensing programs. CSCC provides classes in five different counties and has additional offices in the cities of Athens and Vonore. In 2008, the school had a graduate job placement rate of 96.9 percent. Pell grants were awarded to about half of the students attending CSCC.
Students at Lee University participate in programs offered in more than 100 bachelor's degree and 15 master's degree courses of study. The college has a 17-to-1 student-teacher ratio and Lee University was placed in the Top Tier of schools in terms of quality of education in 2008 when it was ranked by U.S. News & World Report. Lee University is a liberal arts school ranked second largest among Tennessee's 35 accredited private colleges and universities. About 4,377 students attended Lee University in the Fall 2010 term. Admission to the graduate school at Lee requires that student applicants score in the upper 35 percentile on both the Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test and the Miller Analogies Test.
Pentecostal Theological Seminary prepares and trains ministers for entrance into global evangelical service. PTS offers four different master's degree programs and one doctorate program in ministry work. The master's degree programs offered by PTS are Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Discipleship and Christian Formation, Master of Arts in Church Ministries and Master of Arts in Counseling. Students may elect an area of degree concentration in one of the following areas: ministry leadership, discipleship and Christian formation or world mission.