Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 7.

Present law requires the Tennessee higher education commission (THEC) to:<br /> <br /> (1) Develop a statewide master plan to increase the educational attainment levels of Tennesseans through development of public postsecondary institutions; and<br /> <br /> (2) Develop and utilize an outcomes-based funding formula model to ensure the fair and equitable distribution and use of public funds among state institutions of higher education.<br /> <br /> Present law requires that the funding formula model further the goals of the statewide master plan by emphasizing outcomes across a range of variables that must be weighted to reinforce each institution's mission and provide incentives for productivity improvements consistent with the state's higher education master plan, including:<br /> <br /> (1) End-of-term enrollment for each term, student retention, and timely progress toward degree completion and degree production; and<br /> <br /> (2) Student transfer activity, research, and student success, as well as compliance with transfer and articulation policies required by present law.<br /> <br /> This bill adds to the above-described requirements for the funding formula model that it include, for fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2025, the average annual earnings of cohorts matriculating at 150 percent and 250 percent of the cohorts' expected time of degree completion, regardless of the completion status of individuals within the cohort, and only including individuals who are employed and not currently enrolled in postsecondary education. Also, this bill requires that these variables be weighted at 25 percent in the outcomes-based funding formula for four-year colleges and universities and at 50 percent in the outcomes-based funding formula for community colleges and colleges of applied technology.<br />