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Complete Tennessee
Faced with a low number of college-educated workers, 12 rural Tennessee counties are looking into ways to get their residents to complete a degree. The counties are organized into five regional councils as part of a newly launched pilot initiative by Complete Tennessee, focused on clearing hurdles to obtain a college degree or certificate. The so-called Completion Councils will focus on how to boost the skills of local workers to help attract business and boost local economies. The five regional areas have lower-than-average college completion rates among its residents compared to the rest of the state, a barrier for those counties in attracting jobs. The pilot “College Completion Communities” programs tie into the state's Drive to 55 initiative, which seeks to boost the number of Tennesseans with a college education, and is a major step into the work to boost college completion by the nonprofit formed in 2016. Recently, a major employer looked to locate in Washington County, but the company flagged the skill level of workers as an issue. Through the five regional councils, the nonprofit's leaders hope the rural communities will begin to instill a college mindset into their area culture. Each of the five regional councils will create a three-year plan to address the regional student challenges of completing college. The councils include educators, chamber of commerce members, business and community leaders, and elected officials. Along with creating the councils, the five will come to Nashville in the fall to share how they are going about their work with other officials. One of the councils includes Greene, Hamblen and Washington counties. Those East Tennessee counties have a combined 257,000 residents and 28 percent of them have a college degree. The Drive to 55 campaign has a goal of 55 percent of Tennesseans with a degree or certification by 2025.
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