The Alliance

Tennessee’s Drive to 55 Alliance is an active and rapidly growing alliance of private sector partners and community and nonprofit leaders working together in support of the state’s Drive to 55 initiative to equip 55 percent of Tennesseans with a college degree or certificate by 2025.

The goal of the Drive to 55 Alliance is to help generate greater private sector awareness, ownership and support for the long-term steps needed in college entry and completion, adult education and training, and identifying and closing skills gaps to better prepare our workforce and our state for the future.

The Alliance actively supports all facets of the Drive to 55 initiative. It helped lead the state’s successful launch and implementation of the Tennessee Promise scholarship program that provides two-years of tuition-free community or technical college to Tennessee high school graduates.

The Drive to 55 is now helping lead the charge for Tennessee Reconnect, to help more adults complete a postsecondary degree or credential at a community or technical college, tuition free.

The Alliance is working with employers and higher education institutions all across the state to help recruit and attract more adults back into our higher education system and to ensure student skills align with real workforce needs.

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Tennessee has embraced a critical new mission: the Drive to 55. It’s not just a mission for higher education, but a mission for workforce and economic development, a drive to reduce unemployment and improve quality of life.

Drive to 55 Alliance members are actively engaging all across our state by taking this four-step challenge:

  • Promote Tennessee Reconnect

    Promote the Tennessee Reconnect with your employees, members, and local community through all of your communications and social media channels.

  • Identify Highest-Demand Employment Needs

    Identify Highest-Demand Employment Needs – in your region – by participating in an upcoming regional meeting and ongoing efforts to publicize those needs throughout your local community.

  • Connect with Your Local Community & Technology Colleges

    Connect with Your Local Community & Technology Colleges – to ensure they are meeting your local employment and training needs – and to support the job placement, student co-ops, and internships Tennessee Reconnect adults will need to succeed.

  • Recruit Tennessee Promise Mentors

    Recruit Tennessee Promise Mentors – to help ensure even more high school graduates in Tennessee are fully supported as they complete important college degrees, credentials, and training certificates.