HEALTH SCIENCES ALIGNED ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

Postsecondary Health Sciences Degrees, 2020-21

Source: P20 Connect, public postsecondary and select private postsecondary completers, 2020-21 and TDLWD Unemployment Insurance (UI) employment and wage records.

Notes: Information is not available on completers of internship/residency programs.

Workforce Investment Premium

To meet the needs of Tennessee’s economy, THEC recognizes that higher education must be intentional in preparing its graduates for high-demand jobs.** Based on these economic realities, the Governor’s office and institutions expressed interest in further aligning the outcomes-based funding (OBF) formula with workforce demands, specifically recognizing undergraduate awards in high-need fields in the OBF formula.

Using long-term occupational data projections from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, THEC staff worked to identify the careers in Tennessee that are expected to grow in the coming years and matched those jobs with training pathways that align best with the skills needed to be successful. THEC also worked to ensure these training pathways aligned with the high need fields as defined by the Quality Assurance Funding council.

THEC staff created a workforce investment premium in the formula which provides greater outcome points to students completing an undergraduate award in one of ten high-need fields (classified at the two-digit CIP code level (see table below). The workforce investment premium was approved by the Commission and included in the 2023-24 outcomes-based funding formula.

Chief Policy Officer at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, on the workforce investment premium, says “[The WIP] capitalizes on the existing funding formula structure to create further incentives for our higher education institutions. This new premium represents an important step taken by our Formula Review Committee and the Commission to elevate and reward those credentials that we know the Tennessee economy of tomorrow will most need, and it creates a very real alignment between workforce demand, academic supply, and Tennessee higher education funding.”

The workforce investment premium is one of four focus population premiums in the OBF formula. Lowincome, adult, and—at the community colleges only—academically underprepared students are the other focus populations that garner additional points when a student reaches the progression and undergraduate award benchmarks. Success for a student in one focus population group is worth an additional 80 percent premium, two groups is worth an additional 100 percent premium, three groups is worth an additional 120 percent premium, and all four groups garners 140 percent premium the figure below illustrates how these premiums affect outcome points.

Outcomes Based Funding Premium Structure

The table below lists academic programs eligible for the WIP. Programs are identified at the two-digit Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code.