Beacon Center Releases Payoff / Debt Analysis Of Tennessee Higher Education Programs
Image Credit: Beacon Center of Tennessee
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
Beacon Center of Tennessee has released a 26 page analysis of Higher Education in the Volunteer State breaking down the payoff of specific college degrees versus the debt students incur in degree attainment.
The report states that some programs graduate students with excessive loan debt for a degree that will not provide high earnings.
“This leaves graduates stuck in a cycle of having spent years earning a degree that does not set them up for making enough to repay their loans, let alone get ahead in life. Perhaps worse, many of these poor performing programs are kept alive in part due to taxpayer funding,” the report says.
Beacon Center TN says that these programs that fail to give a good return-on-investment can now be identified from data published by the U.S. Department of Education.
“This data allows us to objectively analyze programs and determine which ones provide opportunities to increase incomes and which ones will likely leave students with excessive debt and a salary that does not allow them to get out of it,” the report says.
Using the information presented in the report, prospective students can now make informed decisions on their financial futures and universities can see if the programs they offer are bringing value to the community.
In addition, policymakers can use the information in the report to hold public universities accountable for their poor performing programs and look for solutions to rein in wasteful spending on degrees that land students in a cycle of debt.
Beacon Center of TN asks the question: “Should state tax dollars support a program that does not prepare a graduate to make a better living?”
The most recent totals show Tennessee taxpayers contribute over $2 billion each year to higher education. Including federal funds, tuition, or other fees, public higher education costs $4.9 billion in the 2020-2021 state budget. After adjusting for inflation, the total cost of higher education in the last decade has risen 12.24 percent, with state tax dollar funding rising more than double that at 28 percent.
Just as Tennessee taxpayers have paid more and more for higher education, students’ tuition has also increased, growing 12.14 percent after inflation over the last decade.
Even with this rise, Tennessee taxpayers’ investment in higher education has outpaced all other sources of funding, with state tax dollars in recent years surpassing tuition for the largest funding source.
This increase in cost for higher education is also followed by an increase in positions at Tennessee’s colleges and universities. This rapid growth in administrative and professional positions is likely a partial explanation for the increase in education costs on students and taxpayers.
The Beacon Center’s report identifies 679 undergraduate programs at Tennessee colleges and universities.
However, the Beacon Center notes that the report does not include all of Tennessee’s undergraduate programs due to the Department of Education withholding data for programs with few graduates, few loan borrowers, or few graduates who are employed.
For Tennessee, there are 320 programs with sufficient data for analysis, or just under half of all undergraduate programs.
View / Download the Return on Investment for Undergraduate Programs from TN Public Colleges and Universities HERE.
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
