Postsecondary Attainment in the Decade of Decision: The Master Plan for Tennessee Postsecondary Education 2015-2025
Author: Tennessee Higher Education Commission
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Postsecondary Education,Higher Education,Educational Attainment,Economic Development,Labor Force Development,Academic Degrees,Institutional Mission,Master Plans,Access to Education,Educational Change,Adult Learning,Adult Students,Low Income Groups,At Risk Students,College Graduates,College Readiness,Scores,College Entrance Examinations,College Credits,Articulation (Education),Educational Finance,Educational Policy,Success

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) was charged by state statute with developing a statewide Master Plan for the future development of public universities, community colleges, and colleges of applied technology, with input from the Board of Regents and the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees. The overriding function of the Plan is to direct higher education to be accountable for increasing the educational attainment levels of Tennesseans, while also: addressing the state's economic development, workforce development, and research needs; ensuring increased degree production within the state's capacity to support higher education; and using institutional mission differentiation to realize statewide efficiencies through institutional collaboration and minimized redundancy in degree offerings, instructional locations, and competitive research. The Plan for 2015-2025 represents a departure from previous documents in that it adopts a longer view than the typical five-year planning horizon that has characterized prior efforts. Rather, this Plan proposes that the ten year period 2015-2025 will represent a &quot;decade of decision&quot; for Tennessee postsecondary education in that: (1) the year 2025 has been identified as the &quot;due date&quot; for accomplishment of Governor Haslam's Drive to 55 postsecondary attainment goal; (2) achieving that goal will require focus and persistence over an extended period; and (3) the goal and its attendant policy objectives are unlikely to change fundamentally over the next ten years. The organizing framework of the 2015-2025 Plan is that it: (1) makes the case for continued, focused pursuit of the Drive to 55, Tennessee's college completion policy agenda; (2) takes stock of important achievements to date since passage of the Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA) of 2010; (3) calculates statewide and sector-specific degree and certificate production targets necessary for meeting the statewide goal; (4) recognizes three historically underserved student populations worthy of focused policy and programmatic attention throughout the coming decade; (5) identifies tools and strategies for serving these students; and (6) offers observations and recommendations intended to guide policymakers, system leaders, and campuses as they carry out their appropriate roles relative to Drive to 55 goal attainment. Although this Plan places certificate training and undergraduate education at the center of the state's college completion policy agenda for the decade 2015-2025, the state continues to acknowledge the critical need for academic programs of distinction at the graduate and professional level to fully address Tennessee's economic development, workforce, and research needs. Appendices include: (1) Historical Data Used for Award Projections; (2) Credential Production by Award Level: Historical Data and Projections; (3) Bachelor's Degree Production by Sector; (4) Associate's Degree Production by Sector; (5) Certificate Production by Sector; (6) Programs of the Office of P-16 Initiatives; and (7) Tennessee's Current and Developing Adult Initiatives.