Is college worth it? Where in Utah you can get the most out of your education

August 29, 2023 (ABC4) - As the cost of college continues to rise exponentially, many degree-seekers are wondering if education beyond high school is worth the money. Others just want to get the most education at the lowest cost. New research from the Utah Foundation, an independent non-profit public research organization, has revealed that continuing education after high school is still worth the time. Their research also revealed what schools and degrees earn students the biggest return on their investments. … Continued

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Mitt Romney Visits the U’s Hinckley Institute for Congressional Series

August 21, 2023 (The Daily Utah Chronicle) - …According to the Utah Foundation, Utah ranks the highest in the country when it comes to social capital. Social capital is measured through positive relationships with others. Romney attributed Utah’s high social capital score to the state’s higher-than-average marriage rate and average kids per family…

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Flowing into the Desert

August 15, 2023 (Fox 13) - Shawn Teigen spoke with Fox 13 about the Utah Foundation’s newest report, Flowing into the Desert: A Background on Water in Utah.

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Alysia Ducuara: Utah is one of the healthiest states in the nation — but we need to do more

July 24, 2023 (Salt Lake Tribune) - Our culture of health is declining in Utah, and we need to move in the opposite direction to have the best quality of life. I’m the executive director of Get Healthy Utah, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering a culture of health in Utah communities. When I tell people about Get Healthy Utah’s mission, I often get a response along these lines: “Alysia, we don’t really need to work on improving health in Utah — … Continued

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Bike Safety Ideas for Utah

July 20, 2023 (Rod Arquette) - At 20:06 (on some browsers at 20:38): Shawn Teigen, President of the Utah Foundation, joins the program for a conversation about his op-ed piece in the Deseret News on ways to make Utah safer for bicycles.

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Opinion: Ways we can make Utah safer for bicycles

July 19, 2023 (Deseret News) - Bikes are the best. They are good for our physical and mental health, as well as for economic, environmental and practical reasons. OK, not everyone feels that way. Many drivers would prefer not to share the road with bicycles, or pedestrians, for that matter. Further, many who would like to bicycle are reluctant for one reason or another. A top reason for this reluctance is danger. That makes sense, particularly given a recent spike in … Continued

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Speaking on Business: Utah Foundation

June 09, 2023 (Salt Lake Chamber) - This is Derek Miller, Speaking on Business. The Utah Foundation seeks to help decision-makers and citizens understand and address complex issues. President Shawn Teigen joins us with more about recent inflation trends. SHAWN TEIGEN: Until recently, most of us never really talked about inflation… but now it seems like we are all experts. As part of the Utah Foundation Misery Index, we’ve studied inflation and three other factors to find that Utah has consistently performed … Continued

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Rod Arquette Show Daily Rundown

May 16, 2023 (Rod Arquette) - Shawn Teigen, President of the Utah Foundation, joins the show for a conversation about his recent piece in the Deseret News in which he explains the math surrounding inflation.

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Opinion: Is our inflation too high? The math, explained

May 15, 2023 (Deseret News) - Seeing inflation at nearly 5% for April was not great. But had it been 2%, that could have been even worse for some Utahns. It is all about the math. Speaking of math, if you dine out, you have probably felt the increase in restaurant prices. This is in part because overall food prices are up by 20% since the pandemic began. I have certainly felt it. My family went out for a congratulatory lunch a … Continued

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Is our inflation too high? The math, explained

May 15, 2023 (Yahoo News) - Seeing inflation at nearly 5% for April was not great. But had it been 2%, that could have been even worse for some Utahns. It is all about the math. Speaking of math, if you dine out, you have probably felt the increase in restaurant prices. This is in part because overall food prices are up by 20% since the pandemic began. I have certainly felt it. My family went out for a congratulatory lunch … Continued

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Utahns’ Biggest Worry is housing – what you can do about it

May 10, 2023 (Salt Lake Tribune) - …The “Missing Middle” House size in Utah has increased since World War II. Before then, home construction included many more townhomes, duplexes, fourplexes, and row homes. This more affordable “middle housing” culture provided ownership opportunities and the ability to generate personal wealth for more people. The majority of Utah’s housing inventory consists of single family homes and apartment buildings, but not much is being constructed in this “middle” range. Homes in the “missing middle” are … Continued

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Opinion: Why Utah’s 16-year winning streak is no accident

April 27, 2023 (Deseret News) - …The so-called “truth in taxation” law, for one thing, keeps local governments from capturing more revenue than they did the previous year, with the exception of an allowance for natural growth. Any increase must be declared a tax hike, resulting in a public hearing. This has been a powerful leash on local government spending. A 2018 study by the Utah Foundation concluded that this law has kept the line on property taxes despite soaring home … Continued

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Utah tax cut package HB54 to go into effect next month, receives celebration, criticism

April 17, 2023 (The Daily Universe) - …Invest in Utah’s Future is a coalition comprised of Utahns from across the state who strive to focus public attention on various issues relating to Utah’s future. In a January news release, Invest in Utah’s Future “called on the Utah Legislature to prioritize addressing Utah’s long and growing list of unmet needs over permanent tax cuts that undermine our long-term capacity to invest in Utah’s future.” Citing the Utah Foundation’s 2020 report which reported Utah’s … Continued

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Joseph Q. Jarvis: Business as usual in health care is killing Americans

March 30, 2023 (Salt Lake Tribune) - According to a study recently conducted by the newly announced health reform group Common Sense Health Care for Utah, $28 billion will be spent on health care in Utah this year. Health care spending in Utah is growing fast, doubling every decade, a rate faster than that of all but one other state. The Utah Foundation has for years consistently found that Utahns rate health care costs at the top of their list of concerns. … Continued

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Skip college? Even as more Americans consider it, that’s not the Utah way

March 30, 2023 (KUER) - …Uniquely Utah   One way Utah stands apart from the rest of the country is the educational expectations families have for their children, said Shawn Teigen, president of The Utah Foundation. One big motivating factor is if the parents themselves received a bachelor’s degree. “If your parents have a bachelor’s degree, you’re more likely to do well in school,” Teigen said. “You’re more likely to graduate from school and you’re more likely to go on … Continued

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Hitachi to supply converter stations to multi-state 2.4 GW power line

March 29, 2023 (PV Magazine) - …According to the Utah Foundation, the IPP modernization effort has contributed to an annual financial contribution of $866 million to the state of Utah, providing 4,600 non-farm jobs and $222 million in wages to contracted workers. The IPA has paid approximately $700 million in direct tax payments to Utah and Utah communities…

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Shawn Teigen: Utah in good position to weather the next recession

March 22, 2023 (Salt Lake Tribune) - Let’s talk recessions. Very generally, recessions are periods of economic decline. Americans saw a decline in gross domestic product during the first half of 2022, but that turned around by the second half of the year. Nonetheless, many people are still talking about a recession. This is due in part to the efforts of the Federal Reserve to slow – or even reverse – growth to rein in still-elevated inflation figures. Further, some suggest that … Continued

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Shawn Teigen and John Salevurakis: Plan would enhance access to trails and green space in Utah

February 28, 2023 (Salt Lake Tribune) - Think about the last time you went hiking in Utah. Did you lose yourself in the beauty of this great state, hearing only the sounds of nature? Or did you get stressed while hunting for a place to park your car and then end up passing scores of other hikers, bikers and dogs along the trail? Think about the last time you were enjoying an urban hike – along the Legacy Parkway Trail, the Jordan … Continued

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Richard Badenhausen: Do concerns of Utah’s Legislature align with Utah’s young citizens?

February 23, 2023 (Salt Lake Tribune) - …There was, however, one pesky problem in asking “What matters to [Utah’s] young people?” Larsen found only one poll in the past decade that broke out concerns by age, and the youngest group surveyed in that Utah Foundation study were millennials. Noting the absence of Generation Z’s voice – or those born from 1997 onward – Larsen located three other surveys, but they were national polls and included many respondents in their thirties and forties…

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Bringing common sense to healthcare

February 15, 2023 (Richfield Reaper) - In a decade’s time, from 2008 to 2018, health insurance premiums rose 40% and deductibles for health insurance rose 74% according to the Utah Foundation, making Utahns’ out-of-pocket expenses the eighth highest in the United States….

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Utah group seeking health care overhaul aims for universal coverage

February 09, 2023 (Standard-Examiner) - …Overhead amounts to 20%-30% of health care costs in the U.S. system compared to just 4% in some countries. Utah Foundation research, meantime, shows that the cost of insurance premiums rose 40% between 2008 and 2018, he said, while at the same time deductibles on insurance policies increased 74%. “Because of these rapidly rising costs, the Utah Foundation estimated that 429,000 Utahns were unable to get the care they needed in 2018 because they simply … Continued

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Joseph Q. Jarvis: Common sense needed for Utah health care

February 07, 2023 (Salt Lake Tribune) - In August 2020, the Utah Foundation noted that during the decade from 2008 to 2018, health insurance premiums rose 40% and deductibles for health insurance rose 74%, together making Utahns’ out-of-pocket expenses the eighth highest in the United States. Because of these rapidly rising costs, an estimated 429,000 Utahns were unable to get the health care they needed in 2018 — because they could not afford it…

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Gov. Cox spoke to young Utahns in his annual speech. Is Utah’s government addressing the issues that matter to youth?

January 28, 2023 (Salt Lake Tribune) - I thought Gov. Spencer Cox’s State of the State address last week was a good speech… …There was only one study or poll that I could find in the last decade that explicitly sought to understand the issues that matter to certain age demographics in Utah. That came in the Utah Foundation’s report “What’s on Utah’s Mind: Voter Issues and Concerns in 2020.”   Utah Foundation’s polling on what matters to Utahns by generation. (https://www.utahfoundation.org/uploads/rr778.pdf) … Continued

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