By Randy Boyd Aug. 19, 2026
New polling and University of Tennessee data suggest higher education continues to deliver value through affordability, student outcomes and economic opportunity.
As a new academic year begins on college campuses across the country, students and families are considering one of the most important investments they will ever make: a college education. And many are asking an important question: Is it worth it?
That question arises amid a national narrative that increasingly portrays higher education as too expensive, out of reach and no longer worth the investment. Those concerns deserve to be taken seriously. But when that narrative is fueled by incomplete comparisons, inaccurate information or broad claims that simply do not match the facts, it does a disservice to the students and families trying to make informed decisions about their futures.
Where the college affordability story misses the mark
Recent reporting about college tuition claimed that tuition is increasing faster than inflation. That is simply not the case at the University of Tennessee. Over the past five years, average increases in undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees across our campuses have remained modest. For 2026-27, the approved increases range from approximately 1% at UT Knoxville to 3% at UT Chattanooga, UT Martin and UT Southern, continuing our focus on keeping a UT education within reach. The five-year averages are similarly below inflation, ranging from 1% to 2.6%.
Facts matter, particularly when students and families are making decisions that can shape the course of their lives.
Affordability matters, too. Universities have a responsibility to keep higher education within reach, and we should be held accountable for doing so. But the national conversation has become so focused on what college costs that we risk losing sight of the other side of the equation: what students receive in return.
At UT, that means looking at the entire student experience and the outcomes that follow. More than half of our students graduate debt-free. Programs such as UT Promise are expanding access and providing free pathways to a degree, while new academic programs have the potential to reduce both the time and cost required to earn a degree.
What Tennesseans are telling us
Another important sign that the national narrative does not tell the whole story: Tennesseans themselves are telling us something different.
Today, 72% of Tennesseans believe a four-year degree from a Tennessee public college or university is worth the investment, up 13 percentage points in just one year. Perceptions of UT’s affordability have increased seven points, confidence in educational quality is up seven points, perceptions of workforce preparation have risen eight points and overall positive opinion of the UT System has increased six points.
Those are meaningful shifts. They suggest that when Tennesseans have a fuller understanding of affordability, outcomes and opportunity, they see higher education differently.
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