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President Randall recounts 175 years of higher education impact during legislative presentation

A leader in the perpetual increase of knowledge. 

A place where knowledge may be disseminated in all its various branches. 

An institution where the poor and oppressed of all nations may come without money or price. 

These were some of the goals William Appleby, a founding regent of the University of Utah, had for the fledgling institution. As the school’s 175th anniversary approaches next month, the university is striving to accelerate the founders’ vision, said U President Taylor Randall. 

“We continue to focus on being a perpetual fountain of knowledge,” he said in a presentation to the legislative Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee on Jan. 29. “We continue to focus on providing a broad education. And we also continue to focus on extreme affordability for the citizens of our state.”

The president’s presentation comes at a time of increased scrutiny and questions about the value of higher education. At the Utah Board of Higher Education’s Nov. 21 meeting, the board heard several presentations tied to current critiques of higher education, including concerns about space utilization, degrees to nowhere and higher education institutions being out of alignment with workforce needs.

Point by point, Randall addressed the complaints about higher education—from skepticism about the return on investment from a college degree and ballooning student debt, to debates about the value of studying the liberal arts or the sciences.

Through financial aid and scholarships, the net price of in-state tuition has decreased over the past few years. However, Randall noted, that has not been the trend for housing costs— in Salt Lake City, rents have increased by 17% since 2021. To ease this financial burden for students, Randall said a massive in-state housing scholarship program will be rolled out next month.

“ We know if we can get students living close to campus their retention rates increase, graduation rates increase and job outcomes increase,” he said. 

As the Utah legislature evaluates the state’s workforce needs, conversations about high-impact degrees are at the forefront, leading to discussions about the place of humanities degrees vs. STEM degrees. While it’s true that the state has a great need for more STEM graduates, a report to USHE from consultants found that Utah employers need their workers to have stronger so-called “durable” skills, such as teamwork and communication.

One way the university leaders are working to respond to these concerns and improve job outcomes is by heavily investing in career services. Thanks to this, 86% of Utah resident graduates are employed within a year and 56% of non-residents are in graduate school or staying in Utah for work.

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These efforts also helped increase the average first-year salaries of graduates to above the Utah median wage for individuals with bachelor’s degrees in business, engineering, fine arts, humanities, education, social behavioral sciences and social work. (see chart for additional details)

One of Utah’s urgent workforce needs is to increase the number of primary care providers in the state. While the U’s hospital system is consistently ranked one of the best in the United States, Utah has the lowest number of primary care providers in the nation. To help address this problem, the U is requesting funding from the legislature to partner with Utah Tech University to open a Southern Utah Regional Medical Campus in St. George. Read more about that initiative here.

“This is a big step forward in providing rural medical care and getting doctors into communities that desperately need them right now,” Randall said. 

As Utah and the rest of the country face challenges related to the development of artificial intelligence and other rapidly changing technologies, the U is committed to helping the state fufill these needs. Efforts will include increasing the number of STEM graduates in Utah and dedicating more funding to A.I.

 ”We hope you will see what the University of Utah Way is a pursuit of excellence and collaboration with all of you and with industry,” Randall said. “We want to be your partner.”