Assistant Commissioner, Business and Workforce Development
To make the best products, you need the best people.
In Tennessee, we’ve created innovative workforce partnerships and game-changing education reform for skills in high demand. The result is a steady pipeline of qualified candidates.
Tennessee is leading the way nationwide in K-12 education reform. We have continued that momentum and expanded our focus to include post-secondary education through innovative initiatives including: Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education (GIVE), Drive to 55 and the Tennessee Promise.
The Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education (GIVE) initiative, part of Governor Bill Lee’s legislative agenda, is a two-pronged approach to expand access to vocational and technical training for Tennessee high school students. The GIVE initiative invests $25 million in competitively awarded community grants that will fund regional partnerships between high schools, industry, and Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCATs) to build new work-based learning/apprenticeship programs, market-driven dual-credit opportunities, and the expansion of industry-informed career and technical education offerings.
Drive to 55 aims to bring the percentage of Tennesseans with college degrees or certifications to 55 percent by the year 2025. It’s not just a mission for higher education; it’s also a mission for workforce and economic development.
More than 108,000 students have enrolled in the Tennessee Promise, which commits to providing two years of community or technical college absolutely free of tuition and fees to graduating high school seniors on a continual basis. The first class of Tennessee Promise students entered school and the workforce training pipeline in the Fall of 2015. Since its inception, Tennessee Promise has helped Tennessee students cover over $129 million in college costs.
We are the first state in the country to make this promise. It makes a clear statement to Tennessee families that education beyond high school is a priority in our state. It’s also a promise to current and prospective employers: When you bring your business to Tennessee, you’ll have the support of a devoted and highly skilled workforce.
Current students enrolled in college or graduate school
Million people with an associate degree or higher
Post-secondary institutions in Tennessee
Increase in overall enrollment in Tennessee Public Higher Education from 2016 to 2019
Million Tennesseans Over 18 with a High School degree or higher
Million Tennesseans employed in November 2021
Workforce Development: South Central Region – Site Selection, 2021
Job openings filled annually by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Graduates in engineering, engineering technologies and engineering-related fields, an increase of 47 percent since 2010
Education reform
Tennessee is leading the nation in education reform.
Students in Tennessee were awarded over 85,800 degrees and certificates in 2020, in dozens of programs, including the top twenty below:
Top 20 Programs (based on completions) | 2020 Completions |
---|---|
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities | 10,620 |
Business Administration, Management and Operations | 6,355 |
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | 5,948 |
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions | 2,708 |
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness | 2,475 |
Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Services | 2,059 |
Psychology, General | 2,010 |
Criminal Justice and Corrections | 1,596 |
Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services | 1,531 |
Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants | 1,479 |
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods | 1,458 |
Biology, General | 1,448 |
Accounting and Related Services | 1,299 |
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians | 1,268 |
Educational Administration and Supervision | 1,168 |
Social Work | 1,148 |
Precision Metal Working | 1,144 |
Communication and Media Studies | 1,049 |
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other | 1,003 |
Marketing | 868 |
Tennessee is home to a number of innovative education and workforce partnerships:
Our applicant recruitment team is comprised of representatives from the Tennessee Career Centers, state agencies, local officials and education providers work in collaboration with your company’s human resource personnel to ensure a quick and efficient delivery of services. Most importantly, the members of the our team makes every effort to customize all aspects of the recruitment process to meet the specific needs of your company.
Our recruitment process fills approximately 33,000 job openings annually. Job orders detailing the necessary job requirements can be placed with one or more of the 75 Tennessee Career Centers located throughout the state detailing the necessary job requirements. The Tennessee Career Centers will immediately match qualified job candidates to the company’s job openings. The job order will also receive statewide and national exposure through the Jobs4TN.gov website, Tennessee’s premier online job resource center for candidates and prospective employers. The talent recruitment process continues with pre-screening, assessment and testing, interviewing and pre-hire training.
Drive to 55:
Initiative to equip 55% of Tennesseans with post-secondary credential by 2025.
Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education Act
The Governor’s Investment in Vocation Education (GIVE) initiative, part of Governor Bill Lee’s legislative agenda, is a two-pronged approach to expand access to vocational and technical training for Tennessee high school students. The initiative invests $25 million in competitively awarded community grants that will fund regional partnerships between high schools, industry, and Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCATs) to build new work-based learning/apprenticeship programs, market-driven dual-credit opportunities, and the expansion of industry-informed career and technical education offerings.
The initiative also provides additional lottery funding to high school juniors and seniors to utilize four fully-funded dual enrollment credits for trade and technical programs. Previously, high school students only had access to two fully-funded dual enrollment credits. The funding expansion will be given only to those students enrolling in programs that directly address workforce needs identified by the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC) board of directors.
Dual Enrollment Course Increase
Bipartisan legislation presented as a “GIVE Act” addition passed this session, allowing high school students who meet certain academic criteria to enroll in and receive funding for two additional dual enrollment courses, for a total of three courses a semester. The legislation provides greater access to students interested in earning early postsecondary credits from universities or community colleges. The legislation caps the total number of courses for which a student may receive a dual enrollment grant at 10.
Tennessee Promise
Beginning in Fall 2015, high school graduates can attend one of our 13 Tennessee Community College or 27 Tennessee College of Applied Technology College completely free of tuition and fees.
Tennessee Reconnect
Tennessee the first state in the nation to offer all citizens, both high school graduates and adults, the chance to earn a postsecondary degree or certificate free of tuition and fees and at no cost to taxpayers.
Labor Education Alignment Program (LEAP)
Tennessee Labor Education Alignment Program (LEAP) ensures that post-secondary institutions are producing the skills and credentials that Tennessee employers actually need.
Tennessee LEAP eliminates skills gaps across the state in a proactive, data-driven and coordinated manner by encouraging collaboration across education and industry and by utilizing regional workforce data to identify and then fill skills gaps across the state.
With a competitive grant distribution of $10 million in 2015, state funds are being utilized to support local alignment groups to develop skills gap forecasts, identify the highest priorities, and develop programs or purchase equipment needed to fill those gaps.
Workforce360°
Tennessee aims to be the most aligned state in the nation between workforce, education and industry. Enter Workforce360°, a systematic partnership among state agencies and the higher education system that delivers a highly skilled workforce for your business.
The best solutions are most often achieved through a collaborative approach. When companies allow us to become an extension of their workforce development and recruitment efforts, we are able to provide support that is truly unique to your business. Our project based system works with your company to identify workforce gaps and streamlines solutions across Tennessee by utilizing state department communications, interaction and resources. Region-based tactical teams provide a timely response to immediate business workforce needs, as well as strategic planning for long-term requirements.
Read up on all the details of the Workforce & Education of Tennessee.