Marketable Skills

In 2015, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board launched a new plan for the state of Texas called the 60x30TX Texas Higher Education Strategic Plan. The four goals of this plan are illustrated below.

Image depicting the four goals in the 60x30tx plan: 60x30, completion, marketable skills, and student debt management

The third goal of this plan states that by 2030, all graduates from Texas public institutions of higher education will have completed programs with identified Marketable Skills. A key short-term milestone associated with this goal states that:

  • By 2020, institutions will have created and implemented a process to identify and regularly update Marketable Skills for each of their programs, in collaboration with business and other stakeholders.

Marketable Skills in the 60x30TX plan are defined as: Those skills valued by employers that can be applied in a variety of work settings, including interpersonal, cognitive, and applied skill areas. These skills can be either primary or complementary to a major and are acquired by students through education, including curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities. The Marketable Skills goal emphasizes the value of higher education in the workforce. Students need to be aware of the Marketable Skills that they acquire through their academic programs.

Texas State has developed Marketable Skills for all of its degree and certificate programs. In compliance with the 60x30TX plan, Texas State has developed a Marketable Skills reporting system for all faculty program coordinators, department chairs, school directors, and college deans to effectively report and annually review the Marketable Skills that students acquire from their degree and certificate programs.

To view program specific marketable skills visit: https://www.provost.txstate.edu/resources/marketable-skills.html.