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An independent research organization has found that Tennessee Tech’s Electrical Engineer program has the best return on investment among all state public universities.
Beacon Center of Tennessee is a free-market think tank that focuses on issues from taxes to education. Research Associate Jason Edmonds said the study released Wednesday found that graduates make about $80,000 while only accruing $19,000 of debt.
“Tennessee Tech actually saw some really good returns for the programs that they offer,” Edmonds said. “Anything that was a debt to earnings ratio of 75 percent or less was considered a positive return on investment. Every Bachelor’s program at Tennessee Tech passed that.”
Edmonds said the study was completed through data from the U.S Department of Education and the IRS. Edmonds said while the study focuses on specific programs, Tennessee Tech degrees as a whole are beneficial.
“They have what they call the College Scorecard, and it brings in the median debt of students that go into each individual program,” Edmonds said. “That is provided at the school level for each individual program. For the median earning, that comes from the IRS. With all of that information, the U.S. Department of Education publishes these data sets on which programs provide a good return on investment.”
Edmonds said the organization wants the feedback to be used as a tool for prospective students, university leaders and state officials. Edmonds said the goal is to better serve students through the findings.
