‘Going Higher’ to build our future workforce

Getting students enrolled in college is no longer enough. We must do more to ensure they will graduate on time and are ready to go right to work.

From our perspective of working for more than a decade to increase the percentage of Tennesseans who hold postsecondary credentials, we know both how much has been accomplished and how much more remains to be done.

“Going Higher,” a new report from the State Collaborative on Reforming Education, lays out a path for Tennessee to take in order to ensure the majority of students who enter college complete college with the degrees and certificates that will deliver their economic success in the workforce.

Through the Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010, state leaders centered us around a system focused on completion, with a new outcomes-based funding for

mula built on student success. With the Tennessee Promise Scholarship Act of 2014, we changed the college-going conversation by becoming the first state in the nation to offer our high school graduates two years of community or technical college, tuition-free.

Since then we’ve built on that effort to boost college access, affordability and completion through Tennessee Reconnect, UT Promise, tnachieves, Ayers Scholars, Niswongercares and so many other state scholarship and student support programs.

Under the leadership of Gov. Bill Lee, we have the potential to become a national leader in working even harder to align degrees and certificates earned after high school with the tangible job skills and career pathways most needed in our state.

But despite this progress, there is still much more we need to do to ensure all students have the same opportunity for success.

College is becoming more and more important. A high school diploma alone is not nearly enough to compete for the jobs our state economy needs. In fact, the average annual wage for a recent high school graduate who went directly into the workforce has been about $13,000 – not enough to sustain an individual, much less a family. The workforce we need today requires more knowledge, more training, more skills and a higher level of critical thinking than ever before, and that is only going to increase in the years ahead.

However, getting students enrolled in college is no longer enough. We must do more to ensure students get through college, graduate on time and are ready to go right to work. According to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission’s 2020 Fact Book, in Tennessee barely half of students who enter college finish their degrees within six years, and the rates are lower for low-income students (41%), Latinx students (46%) and Black students (35%). Our higher-education system must work to close the gaps in how well it is serving all students.

SCORE’S “Going Higher” report outlines several specific ideas and policy proposals to help:

End Tennessee’s completion challenge

By funding and deploying proven, data-informed evidence-based student supports and interventions, with hands-on completion coaches and advisers, learning cohorts and smoother and simpler credit transfer pathways among our many colleges and universities.

Focus on graduating all students

By collecting, reporting and analyzing the data for students from all backgrounds. This information will inform decisions about improving the opportunities and support that will erase the current wide gaps in student outcomes.

Reimagine credentials

By exploring how we award credit to students based on the mastery and the competency required.

Align degrees to workforce needs

By insisting on clear pathways and programs that prioritize high-demand, high-quality credentials that students want and employers most need.

SCORE’S report recaps the great work over the past 10 years to put in place a strong foundation. But now we have the chance to create even greater opportunities for many more students going forward.

We hope you will want to learn more by reading the Going Higher report and by joining with SCORE and the many other partners, educators, policymakers and employers across the state who are coming together to better prepare students for a lifetime of success.

Nothing we do will be more important in the lives of these students, to the economic success of our communities and the future of our great state.

Randy Boyd is president of the University of Tennessee System, architect for Tennessee Promise and the Drive to 55, and founder and chairman of Tennessee Achieves. Jamie Woodson is a University of Tennessee trustee, president and founder of Tri-star Strategies, former executive chair and CEO of SCORE and former chairwoman of the Tennessee Senate Education Committee.

JOE RONDONE/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Felicia Orr has mentored more than 100 college students through Tnachieves, which supports students in the Tennessee Promise program. Orr is seen here on the Southwest Tennessee Community College campus where many of her students have attended class.