Learn more
Visit launchmycareertn.org to review data about in-demand majors, career earnings and university offerings.
As Chattanooga parents and students consider colleges - whether they are looking at UTC, Chattanooga State or any of the other great state schools in Tennessee - they increasingly ask: What can we expect after graduation? For the veteran or other adults returning to school, the question is the same: What will the return on my investment be?
Likewise, we as businesses are very interested in how an institution prepares students for their next steps. Will they have the skills that we need to build the workforce that will accelerate Tennessee's standing as a leader in the United States and across the world?
For all of these reasons, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation - in partnership with the American Institutes for Research, Gallup and USA Funds - this week released LaunchMyCareerTN.org specifically designed to help students make smart decisions on what and where to study - for the student's benefit as well as our community's.
The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry is also partnering in this effort. With state-specific, program-level information, Tennessee will be one of the first states to have the Launch My Career tools. Once again, our state will be a leader in educational reforms.
Launch My Career Tennessee is part of a $3.5 million, 12-state USA Funds grant initiative to develop new and more effective models for measuring college value to help students and their families, policymakers and postsecondary institutions make more informed decisions about the training and skills that will provide the greatest value to students and their communities.
To that end, the Tennessee tool gives prospective college students of all ages a well-informed way of identifying pathways that will help them achieve their goals. They can examine the outcomes - such as potential earnings and how much time it takes to complete a degree - of various programs in our state schools and make a data-driven decision about what to study and where to enroll.
It's not all about dollars and cents, either. Other data measures the overall well-being of a school's graduates - particularly, how they feel about their chosen line of work and whether they are satisfied with their lives after graduation.
The Hamilton County area is rich in outstanding institutions of higher learning. Whether it is the renowned UTC College of Business or the Volkswagen Academy at Chattanooga State or any of our other vocational and technical schools, we welcome students from across Tennessee. Now, they will have an objective and practical way to evaluate our schools to see if any one of them is the right fit for their futures.
For the business community, this could not be more important. We are working hard to bridge the skills gap that many of our employers face. What Tennessee public colleges and universities are teaching - and how those programs align with the most in-demand careers available in the state - matters to employers.
Meanwhile, we hope you will join in the conversation about building Tennessee minds as we build a Tennessee workplace.
Bradley Jackson is interim president of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry.