Recent legislation may drastically reshape higher education and the HOPE scholarship in Tennessee.
Gov. Bill Haslam signed the Tennessee Promise Scholarship Act into law this May.
Unveiled by Haslam during the State of the State address on Feb. 3, the legislation will provide two-and-a-half years of free tuition at any qualifying post-secondary institution for the purpose of attaining an associate’s degree or two-year technical certificate.
The law also provides a more cost-effective way for students to gain credits before transferring to a four-year school.
In a May press release for the law’s signing, Haslam reiterated his commitment to his Drive to 55 initiative which aims to have 55 percent of Tennesseans hold some form of post-secondary educational certificate by 2025. At the bill’s announcement in February, Haslam said only 32 percent of Tennesseans currently meet this standard.
“Through the Tennessee Promise, we are fighting the rising cost of higher education, and we are raising our expectations as a state,” Haslam stated in a May press release announcing the signing. “We are committed to making a clear statement to families that education beyond high school is a priority in the state of Tennessee.”
The bill is a last-dollar scholarship, and it will only cover tuition after other financial aid, such as need-based scholarships and Pell grants, have been applied.
Only students that attend an institution offering two-year programs will be eligible to apply.
Though the HOPE will still guarantee qualifying students at four-year institutions a $16,000 cumulative scholarship, students won’t be receiving the money evenly across four years. Rather, students will receive $3,500 during their freshman and sophomore years then $4,500 a year as upperclassmen. Eligibility for HOPE recipients will also change, expiring at either 120 attempted hours or eight semesters, whichever occurs last.
These changes will only affect students who start in fall 2015 and after.
The Promise targets students who may not otherwise pursue a post-secondary education, and schools like Pellissippi State Community College (PSCC) are already expecting an increase in enrollment.
Based on numbers from the Tennessee Achieves program, the last-dollar scholarship the Promise is modeled after, Ted Lewis, vice-president of academic affairs for PSCC, said he expects about 2,000 new enrollees from the Promise for fall 2015. Currently, PSCC offers classes to about 11,000 students each semester.
PSCC has seen a 72 percent increase in enrollment from the tnAchieves program alone since fall 2012, and Lewis said he used those numbers to try and expect what enrollment may look like in the future.
“We look forward to serving our community by providing additional students an opportunity to attend college and earn a degree,” Lewis said by email Monday.
However, an unfortunate business climate has caused a fiscal headache for public schools this year.
In response to an unexpected budget shortfall, Gov. Haslam cut certain higher education items from his fiscal year 2015 budget. The cuts hit all public post-secondary institutions, removing new funding, even from all improving schools. Schools like PSCC received $840,000 less than originally expected, and UT-Knoxville $6 million less.
The Promise is estimated to cost $34 million a year, and will be funded primarily through a one-time transfer of $300 million in excess lottery fund reserves — in addition to a $47 million endowment created by the General Assembly in 2013.
The remaining $100 million in lottery funds will still go toward fulfillment of the HOPE scholarship, to be assisted by a $10 million cushion.
