General Assembly Merit Scholarship
The GAMS is established and funded from the net proceeds of the state lottery and awarded to entering freshmen as a supplement to the HOPE Scholarship.
Award amount – Up to $1,500 annual supplement to the HOPE Scholarship. The annual award amount is divided equally between fall, spring and summer semesters. Amounts awarded to part-time students are prorated.
- Students graduating from a Tennessee public school or category 1, 2, 3 private school must have a minimum 3.75 GPA* AND 29 ACT or a minimum 1330 SAT, exclusive of the essay and optional subject area battery tests (concordant equivalent score)
- ACT/SAT exams must be taken on a national test date or state test date and prior to the first day of college enrollment after high school graduation. The ACT Residual test and the ACT Superscore are not accepted.
- Students graduating from Homeschool programs (and non-category I, II, & III Schools), in addition to meeting the HOPE scholarship requirements, and during the course of a homeschool program, must meet the minimum academic requirements to qualify for the General Assembly Merit Scholarship. Click here for more details on how to qualify.
*Grade point average means a grade point average on a 4.0 scale calculated with additional internal quality points awarded for advanced placement, honors or other similar courses according to the Uniform Grading Policy adopted by the State Board of Education.