Ten of Tennessee’s public universities are coming together for an awareness campaign about the importance of a college education.
While public universities typically compete with each other to enroll students, the University of Tennessee’s “Four The Future” campaign is designed to inform the public about the benefits of obtaining a degree.
“Not only do college graduates have statistically higher lifetime earning potential, broader networks and connections, and fewer chronic health issues, but the benefits of a four-year degree also extend far beyond one individual and can have a lasting impact on their community,” says the Four The Future website.
The website contains statistical information about the value of a college degree.
“A Bachelor’s degree yields $1.4M more in earnings compared to high school diplomas; 90% of TN public universities rank high in graduate economic mobility,” it says.
Middle Tennessee State University is one of the schools participating in the program.
Tuesday, it posted a video to its YouTube channel highlighting that the state universities work together to educate Tennesseeans.
“Your MD’s learned from our PhD’s,” says a slogan at the end of the video.
“A bachelor’s degree increases the life trajectory of not only those who earn them, but also their families,” MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said in a statement in the video’s caption. “That is why we are proud to part [sic] of this unprecedented message, delivered loud and clear by our state’s leading public universities, of the great value, tremendous worth and tangible benefits of a four-year college degree.”
Four The Future has its own YouTube page, which currently has two live videos with the same theme as the MTSUs video.
One video is called “Your Farmers Learned from Our Faculty.”
Another is “Your Teachers Learned from Our Professors.”
The state’s flagship school, the University of Tennessee – Knoxville is participating, but so are smaller state schools like Tennessee Technological University and Austin Peay State University.
“From Memphis to Mountain City, one of the hallmarks of Tennessee has always been our strong higher-education system, and this is an investment in our state,” University of Tennessee System President Randy Boyd reportedly said of the new initiative. “The goal of this alliance is to share that strength with everyone in the Volunteer State. From business owners to young adults, we want people to know the value of a degree from a public university in Tennessee.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter/X.
