Clemson, Tennessee nurture our Orange Bowl teams — and all the rest of our students | Guest Opinion

There will be a lot of orange in the Hard Rock Stadium on Friday.

Our two storied, top-10 football programs — the Tennessee Volunteers and the Clemson Tigers — will face off in the Capital One Orange Bowl wearing slightly different shades of our shared signature color. It should be a competitive, high-energy game.

While we may not agree on the perfect hue of orange or who ultimately will lift the trophy, as leaders of two premier public research institutions, we share an important and pressing mission: to improve lives through education, discovery and service.

We are proud to lead research-extensive, land-grant universities with a responsibility, first and foremost, to serve the people of our states and our country. We are bound by a 160-year-old promise under the Morrill Act of 1862 to deliver better opportunities to the people of South Carolina, Tennessee, and beyond. We are also driven by the conviction that education changes lives — a truth we see every day in our students and graduates.

Studies show that those with a college degree are more likely to be employed, more likely to have improved health and more likely to give back through charitable donations. They earn about $1.2 million more over the course of their lifetime, and their children are more likely to go to college, impacting families and communities for generations.

A college degree is more than a credential — it represents the knowledge our graduates gain, the skills they develop, the relationships they build and the life-long curiosity they cultivate.

How do we increase access to education to make sure more students can engage in such a life-changing experience? We do that by keeping costs low so that more students can attend our institutions and by investing in resources to ensure our students thrive once they arrive on our campuses.

At both UT and Clemson, we work hard to make college attainable. At Clemson, the total cost of attendance is 39% below other leading public universities. At UT, we haven’t raised tuition in three years and continue to add scholarship programs to help offset the cost of attendance. At both of our universities, about half of our students graduate without debt.

To ensure students succeed when they arrive on campus, we are each devoting more resources to help them thrive both in the classroom and beyond.

At UT, we have launched success initiatives for all students, including first-generation students, student veterans and students of color. We are helping all students recognize their strengths and leverage them to succeed both in college and in life beyond college. This work is paying off, with more students persisting toward graduation than ever before.

At Clemson, our commitment to students’ success is evident in our retention and graduation rates, which are significantly higher than the national average. We have amazing opportunities to support all of our Clemson Tigers, from our No. 1 ranked Career Center to programs such as Emerging Scholars, Call Me MISTER and Clemson LIFE. And programs like these are just a few examples of how we are engaging with our communities and helping to support our students.

This year, UT — the fastest growing campus in the SEC — has its largest overall enrollment, supported by both the largest first-year class on record and record numbers of students persisting to graduation. Clemson has record-breaking numbers of applications, fundraising and research expenditures. This creates opportunities for more students and produces more graduates who are prepared to enter the workforce, supporting the economic prosperity of the communities and states we serve.

The leadership of students in the classroom and student-athletes on the field and on the courts is drawing more attention to the momentum we see across our universities. Because of this, people in our states and all over the country see the incredible things we are doing and want to become a Volunteer or a Tiger.

At Clemson, we say that we are “All In.”

At UT, we take pride in the legacy of our Volunteer spirit.

We may be at odds on the field this week, but the promise we made as land-grant institutions to educate and serve the people of Tennessee, South Carolina and beyond keeps us focused on the same mission.

Jim Clements is president of Clemson University. Donde Plowman is chancellor of the University of Tennessee.