NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will address the first class of Tennessee Promise graduates at Cleveland State commencement exercises on Saturday, fulfilling a promise he made the students when they began their college careers in August 2015. Haslam will address graduates of Southwest Community College in Memphis, next Saturday, May 13. Launched in 2014, Tennessee Promise is the nation’s first scholarship and mentorship program offering high school graduates two years of community college or technical school free of tuition and fees. It is a last-dollar scholarship funded by the state’s lottery for education account and not through tax dollars. Initial data shows that more Tennesseans are going to college, fewer need remediation when they get there, and student borrowing is down.

NASHVILLE, TN – A record number of students are going to college directly after high school and they are showing up more prepared once they get there according to two recent reports from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC). The annual Tennessee Higher Education Fact Book and the interactive 2017 Profiles and Trends in Higher Education report published by THEC highlight data and trends in relation to the Drive to 55.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today thanked the General Assembly for unanimously passing the Tennessee STRONG (Support, Training and Renewing Opportunity for National Guard) Act, the governor’s legislation that provides tuition free educational opportunities for eligible members of the Tennessee National Guard and supports the Drive to 55 goal to increase the number of Tennesseans with a degree or certificate to 55 percent by 2025. The House of Representatives this afternoon passed HB 530/SB 1216 97-0 and it now heads to the governor’s desk for his signature. The Senate passed the legislation 31-0 on April 3.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today thanked the General Assembly for its swift confirmation of six local university governing boards, giving the higher education institutions increased autonomy to support student success as the state continues its Drive to 55 initiative. The General Assembly approved all 48 of Haslam’s appointments to the governing boards of Austin Peay State University, East Tennessee State University, Middle Tennessee State University, Tennessee State University, Tennessee Technological University and the University of Memphis. The boards are the result of the governor’s FOCUS Act, enacted last year.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today filed his NextTennessee legislative agenda for the 2017 session of the 110th General Assembly. “With the NextTennessee agenda, we’re focused on policy proposals to build and sustain economic growth and the state’s competitiveness for the next generation of Tennesseans,” Haslam said. “Because of the fiscal responsibility we have shown, the Tennessee we can be is a state with a safe and reliable transportation network that supports long-term growth, one of the best K-12 systems in the country and free access to a post-secondary degree or certificate for all Tennesseans. And we can still be the state with the lowest taxes and the lowest debt.”

NASHVILLE, TN – The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) announced today that the number of Tennessee Promise students who enrolled in college for the first time grew in the program’s second year while the majority of the scholarship’s first class of students re-enrolled for a second year of college. The Tennessee Promise scholarship was the first in the nation to offer graduating high school seniors two years tuition-free at a community or technical college.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has proclaimed Thursday, January 12, as the first “TN FAFSA Frenzy Day,” encouraging high school seniors and current college students to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by January 17 to maintain eligibility for key scholarship programs including Tennessee Promise. Tennessee Promise is the state’s groundbreaking scholarship and mentoring program that provides high school graduates two years of community or technical college free of tuition and fees. “Across Tennessee, 60,000 high school seniors submitted a Tennessee Promise application this fall and made a commitment to higher education. Submitting the FAFSA is the next step,” Haslam said. “This Thursday, January 12, is our first TN FAFSA Frenzy Day, and you’ll see colleges, nonprofits and state government agencies partnering with high schools statewide to ensure that as many students as possible get their FAFSA submitted. For the past two years our state has led the nation in FAFSA filings, one of the best indicators of a growing college-going culture in Tennessee. We want to continue that momentum this year and encourage students to apply by January 17.”