Most Tennessee high school students apply for Tennessee Promise program

The Tennessean

Almost 85 percent of all graduating Tennessee high school students this year signed up for Tennessee Promise.

The scholarship program provides two years tuition-free at state community or technical colleges, and the deadline for applications closed Wednesday night.

The number of students applying in the program's 4th year — 62,860 of the state's more than 74,000 graduating seniors in public and private schools — eclipses all expectations for those that administer the scholarship.

Overall, the number of students that applied is up about 4 percentage points over last year.

'"I think we always believed it was going to be transformative," said Mike Krause, Tennessee Higher Education Commission executive director. "We didn’t believe it would become so central so quickly."

More: More than 44,000 sign up for Tennessee Promise year 2

More:Tennessee Promise students more likely to succeed in college, less likely to drop out, new data shows

With so many students signing up, it brings about a moment where Tennessee Promise administrators are beginning to ask what's next, Krause said.

About a third of all students will use the scholarship, he said. A third might not go to college at all. And the rest will head to a four-year institution.

For those that don't go to college at all, Krause said the state must begin to look at more support for those at-risk and ensure they are being reached out to in an intentional way.

"It's often students that are first generation whose parents maybe didn’t attend. It's about not having a frame of reference," he said. "If you can't visualize it, it's hard to convince them to take them to next steps."

Counselors statewide are credited with the higher rate of students applying.

But many are beginning to think beyond just getting kids to apply and instead looking to a student's first day of class at a college, said Leigh Bagwell, Tennessee Department of Education director of school counseling.

"It is an area we want to continue to work on," she said. "There will be a chunk that don’t show up, and we want do everything we can so they show up."

She added the focus is on getting students to fill out financial aid packets and ensuring students have the support to get from high school to college.

"We are still learning what are the right things in getting students to cross that bridge," she said. "We have many creative and hardworking counselors statewide that understand the significance of the opportunity and are thinking hard how to support students better even after graduation."

Reach Jason Gonzales at jagonzales@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.

Tennessee Promise applicants by district

Memphis/Shelby-area

Achievement School District: 408
Arlington City Schools: 492
Bartlett City Schools: 394
Collierville Schools: 409
Germantown Municipal School District: 373
Millington Municipal School District: 201
Shelby County Schools: 6,220

Middle Tennessee

Cheatham County Schools: 464
Clarksville-Montgomery County School System: 1,916
Metro Nashville Public Schools: 4,392
Robertson County Schools: 786
Rutherford County Schools: 3,091
Sumner County Schools: 2,266
Williamson County Schools: 2,220
Wilson County Schools: 1,581

East Tennessee

Alcoa City Schools:
Anderson County Schools: 726
Blount County Schools: 750
Knox County Schools: 4,003
Maryville City Schools: 390
Oak Ridge Schools: 270
Sevier County Schools: 905