Students transferring to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, this fall are eligible to receive the university's new Volunteer Transfer Scholarship.
"The first group of students who took advantage of the Tennessee Promise program are now completing their community college studies and will be looking at four-year universities to complete their bachelor's degrees," said Larry Long, an assistant director in Undergraduate Admissions who works with transfer students. "We want Tennessee Promise students and other outstanding transfer students to continue their education at UT."
Transfer students who want to start classes at UT this summer must complete applications by April 1 and confirm by May 15. The fall semester application deadline for transfer students is July 1 and the confirmation deadline is Aug. 1.
Students don't have to apply for the Volunteer Transfer Scholarship; it will be automatically awarded to qualifying students.
The scholarship is awarded for up to two years (four semesters) to in-state or out-of-state students with at least a 3.25 UT-calculated GPA who received an associate's degree from a Tennessee Board of Regents community college within three years of high school graduation. To be eligible, students must enroll in the fall or spring semester immediately after completing their associate's degree and must not have previously enrolled in any four-year institution.
To keep the Volunteer Transfer Scholarship, students must maintain a 3.0 minimum cumulative GPA and meet federal standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress, with continuous full-time enrollment throughout each fall and spring semester.
Last fall, UT welcomed 1,367 transfer students.
Transfer students have become an increasing important part of the recruitment process since the Tennessee Promise debuted in 2015, offering last-dollar scholarships for new high school graduates to attend any of the state's community colleges, colleges of applied technology or other eligible institutions. In January, Governor Bill Haslam outlined a plan to expand the Tennessee Promise scholarship model to allow adults to attend community college tuition-free.
UT has increased efforts to recruit and serve transfer students and ease their transition to the university. Full-time admissions counselors are based in Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis to assist students across Tennessee.
See UT's transfer student website for more information.