Education-to-Career Pathways

Postsecondary education leads to improved earnings and employment on average, but not all credentials and degrees yield meaningful economic returns. There’s also a persistent shortage of educated Tennesseans to meet our workforce needs. The outcomes-based funding formula is one among a series of important strategies to ensure the state’s education systems drive students toward career success and steer Tennessee toward economic growth. It’s time to align the outcomes-based funding formula to include measures that show whether students are prepared for careers that enable economic independence.

This memo spotlights how the One Million Degrees comprehensive college coaching model has proven successful and could be scalable at Tennessee community colleges and nationwide.

Economic development in Tennessee has increased career opportunities, but we need to ensure students are earning degrees and credentials that prepare them for those jobs and enable them to benefit from this economic opportunity. This report offers a vision for measuring what success looks like for Tennessee students entering the workforce.

All Tennessee students should earn degrees and credentials that prepare them for careers that enable economic independence. From K-12 to postsecondary to workforce development, more can be done to better prepare students for this goal, and this can only be done by looking at data across systems and using that information to drive innovation.