One of the community products of the University of Memphis Carnegie R1 campaign is tanking Shelby County post-secondary completions. This occurs under the local proclamation that workforce development is the #1 priority.
Total Shelby County post-secondary completions were down by 895 or 7.7% from 11,692 to 10797 year over year in 2019. And that comes as Shelby County is at the bottom of the peer group in post-secondary completions per 1k population. Below percentage average employment gains, can be shown to cost Memphis/Shelby taxpayers $147M since 2010 with recurring annual losses at $32M.
Further, another bi-product of the UofM Carnegie R1 campaign, are local grants for elitist tennis courts and swimming pools. These grants are in addition to the recent taxpayer losing Poplar Plaza PILOT that the UofM co-sponsored.
A better use than tennis courts and swimming pools of those funds, would have funded $500K per year for wrap around services to support disadvantaged students while accelerating and increasing completion rates in the community college system.
Besides, the City of Memphis provided the land for the tennis courts and there was significant private funding for both tennis courts and swimming pools at the UofM. But runaway elitism won out, while post secondary completions tanked.
Post Secondary Completion Data
A survey, using the Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS) was conducted against 14 national and 4 in-state peer communities to include Shelby County in a ranking of 19 total communities. Those communities are listed at the end of this blog.
Shelby County ranked last in enrollment and completions per 1K population. Additionally, percentage change rankings for each of the communities for 4 years and 1 year were compiled. Shelby County ranked 11 and 17 for completions and enrollment 4 year percentage change. And 19 and 10 for 1 year percentage change for completions and enrollment (above table).
To competitively fuel the talent pipeline for economic development purposes, Shelby County needs to reside near the top of peer rankings and not the bottom for some years to come.
As far as post-secondary completion award levels percentage change rankings, those statistics are immediately above.
Conclusion
Without a connected workforce development plan to fuel economic development, the low post-secondary completion rankings are likely to continue, while the same small few, continue to botch the workforce development system.
Peers Surveyed
Birmingham, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Greensboro, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Johnson City/Tri Cities, Kansas City, Knoxville, Little Rock, Louisville, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Omaha, St. Louis and Tulsa