Tennessee to offer retraining 'warranty' for technical grads

Friday, November 3, 2017, Vol. 41, No. 44

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee is introducing a warranty for its community and technical college programs by offering free retraining if an employer says a graduate's skills set comes up short.

Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor Flora Tydings discussed the warranty program during budget hearings Tuesday.

For someone to be eligible, Tydings says an employer must document that someone they hired who has graduated from a technical program within a year lacks the skills that the institution sought to teach.

Beginning next year, Tydings says each graduate will receive a card that constitutes a warranty claim form.

Tydings says it's not an issue that comes up very often from employers, but if it does, the warranty will flag shortcomings within a program.

Gov. Bill Haslam said the warranty idea is accountability at its finest.