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NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) today elected two new officers during the quarterly meeting. Mr. Vernon Stafford was elected Vice-Chair for West Tennessee, and Ms. Mintha Roach was elected Vice-Chair for East Tennessee.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today announced the state has set a new record and for the third year in a row has led the nation in the number of students filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Nearly three quarters of all Tennessee high school seniors—73.5 percent—filed the FAFSA for the 2017-18 academic year, a requirement for Tennessee students to be eligible for both federal and state aid, including Tennessee Promise and the HOPE Lottery Scholarship.

RIPLEY – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today awarded state workforce development grants to two Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) institutions in West Tennessee to expand higher education opportunities and support the Drive to 55 goal to increase the number of Tennesseans with a degree or certificate to 55 percent by 2025. The Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) will expand current programs and develop new training programs at TCAT-Ripley and TCAT-Covington in communities with limited higher education options.

NASHVILLE, TN – The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) announced today that 13 colleges and universities in Tennessee will receive additional funding and program support to serve veterans and service members and help them earn postsecondary degrees as part of Governor Bill Haslam’s Drive to 55.

NASHVILLE – In front of military personnel of the Tennessee Army and Air National Guard at the Tennessee Department of Military, Gov. Bill Haslam on Thursday signed the Tennessee STRONG Act that provides tuition free higher 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.

MORRISTOWN – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam made history today as he signed the Tennessee Reconnect Act, making Tennessee the first state in the nation to offer all citizens – both high school graduates and adults – the chance to earn a postsecondary degree or certificate free of tuition and fees and at no cost to taxpayers.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will make history on Wednesday as he signs the Tennessee Reconnect Act, making Tennessee the first state in the nation to offer all citizens – both high school graduates and adults – the chance to earn a postsecondary degree or certificate free of tuition and fees and at no cost to taxpayers. Haslam will be in each of the grand divisions, holding bill signing ceremonies in Morristown, Smyrna and Memphis.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will address some of the first Tennessee Promise graduates at Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis on Saturday, where 63 Promise students are completing their degrees within two years.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today thanked the General Assembly for its partnership in making Tennessee the first state in the nation to offer all citizens – both high school graduates and adults – the chance to earn a postsecondary degree or certificate free of tuition and fees and at no cost to taxpayers. Building off the pioneering Tennessee Promise program, which provides high school graduates two years of community or technical college free of tuition and fees, the Tennessee Reconnect Act establishes a last-dollar scholarship for adults to attend a community college tuition-free. The legislation is on its way to the governor’s desk after being passed by the General Assembly.

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.