Governor Bill Haslam established the Tennessee Promise last year as both a scholarship and mentoring program focused on increasing the number of students that attend college in Tennessee. The goal of this program is to provide high school graduates the opportunity to attend a community or technical college tuition free. It provides students a last-dollar scholarship, meaning the scholarship will cover tuition and fees not covered by the Pell grant, the HOPE scholarship, or state student assistance funds. This resulted in 55,000 students who have taken the Tennessee Promise and an unprecedented increase in financial aid submissions across the state.
In order to ensure success, Tennessee Promise students are given a mentor to assist them in the college application process and meet the requirements in order to receive the scholarship. This is accomplished primarily via mandatory meetings that students must attend in order to remain eligible for the program. In addition, Tennessee Promise participants must complete eight hours of community service per term enrolled, as well as maintain satisfactory academic progress (2.0 GPA).
“It is important for everyone to remember to sign up for the Tennessee Promise by the Nov. 2 deadline,” stated Jamie Hamby, director of Financial Aid. “Obviously, we would love for students to choose Cleveland State, but don't want any of them to miss out on this opportunity no matter where they choose to attend.”
Cleveland State recently hosted a Tennessee Promise Saturday as a part of a state-wide effort to encourage students to sign up for the Promise, as well as apply to the college. Over 50 students took advantage of this day, and there are plans to host an Open House on Saturday, Oct. 17 from 9 a.m.-noon where students can also sign up for the Promise.
Overall, for the fall semester, Cleveland State was up 17 percent in the number of new freshmen coming specifically from the 11 high schools in the Cleveland State service area. Approximately 441 students are on the Tennessee Promise for the fall semester at CSCC.
For more information on the Tennessee Promise, visit the website at www.tnpromise.gov or contact Hamby at 423-472-7141, ext. 291.