Students and grads from Tennessee's public colleges now have a new way to track their post-grad career success, thanks to a digital dashboard launched by the Tennessee Board of Regents in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The "Careers Start Here" dashboard, which covers a decade of grad data, shines a light on job placement rates, average wages, and industries employing alumni from the state's community colleges and colleges of applied technology, but it's not only for the schools, the tool serves up vital stats for state planners and employers looking to shape their workforce strategies.
In a recent statement, TBR Chancellor Flora W. Tydings expressed her gratitude for the collaboration, "The dashboard that we have built has already provided new insights at the program and college level into employment outcomes for TBR students. We are grateful to Commissioner Thomas and her team for working so closely with us in this endeavor," as reported by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Providing a peek into the usefulness of the tool Commissioner Deniece Thomas emphasized its broad utility, "This dashboard will be a critical tool, not only for state government, but any organization planning their future workforce needs," pointing out the central repository for comprehensive, actionable data that the partnership between TBR and TDLWD has spawned, which was showcased during the Board's quarterly powwow just last week, as per the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Without identifying students by name, the dashboard compares grads with those who started but didn't finish, revealing striking differences in employment rates and salaries; for example, five years out, 76% of the community college graduates were working in Tennessee versus 68% of non-completers, and degree-holders bagged $45,265 annually—over $14,000 more than their peers who left school empty-handed.
With updates planned every quarter, the tool isn't just for institutions—it's set to be a compass for high schoolers, guiding their career path planning. TBR's Assistant Vice Chancellor for Policy and Strategy, Dr. Amy Moreland, spearheaded the dashboard’s creation and hopes "that our colleges are able to strengthen the alignment between our programs and workforce needs as they use this tool alongside others to help students navigate to a credential and a career."
