Texas State of Higher Education Address (2022)(“A”) and Building a Talent Strong Texas (2022)(“B”) emphasize credentials of value for post-secondary education:
[A] goal for at least 60% of our entire working-age population to have a degree, certificate, or other credential of value by 2030… Texas is the first state to condition its goals for higher education completion on the value of those credentials to individuals and employers in our state economy. (Emphasis mine)
Credentials of value as defined within the context of these documents means of value to individuals and employers in our state economy (A-p.3), offering purpose in the economy, value in the labor market, and opportunities for good jobs and meaningful careers (B-p.3) and aligned with workforce demands that will raise incomes for individual Texans while reducing debt (B-p.5).
Credentials of value could motivate other state legislatures and universities to refocus secondary education to implement the purposes of being for which specific state universities were consecrated by the people creating them, for example:
- “Disciplina Praesidium Civitatis – Instruction and Protection of the State” (University of Texas)
- “Artes, Scientia, Veritas – Arts, Knowledge, Truth” (University of Michigan)
- “Civium in Moribus Rei Publicae Salus – The welfare of the state depends upon the morals of its citizens (or, rests upon the character of its people)” (University of Florida)
Combining credentials of value with purpose of being could influence state legislatures and state academic institutions to:
- Fund each institution to focus on advancing its purpose of being
- Rank graduate employability high when designing and funding curricula and departments
- Promote purpose of being and credentials of value over marketing trendy academic products to youthful consumers
As with all social shifts, the time for credentials of value and purposes of being may or may not have come politically, much less nationally. Yet Texas may have enough influence that, “By Building a Talent Strong Texas, our state will play a leading and unprecedented national role in prioritizing credentials of value.” (B-p.10) (Emphasis mine) and perhaps concurrently purposes of being.