The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) says a record-breaking number of students applied for Tennessee Promise program, with over 67,000 applicants from the Class of 2025.
Surpassing last year’s record, the Class of 2025 now holds the highest number of applicants since the inception of the Tennessee program in 2015.
“We are thrilled to see this level of interest and commitment from the Class of 2025,” said THEC Executive Director Dr. Steven Gentile. “The enthusiasm these students are showing for higher education reflects the success of Tennessee Promise and the growing momentum toward making postsecondary opportunities a reality for all Tennesseans.”
The Tennessee Promise application period, which closed on November 1, 2024, saw a notable increase in applicants, with approximately 700 more students preparing to take advantage of the program’s benefits over last year.
Each year, THEC produces a report outlining the impact of Tennessee Promise. The annual report presents descriptive data on Tennessee Promise applicants and students, student outcomes, student transfer behavior, and program finances. THEC recently released the Tennessee Promise Annual Report for 2024 with a couple key findings:
The first-to-second semester success rate for the 2022-23 cohort hit an all-time high of 83.8%—a 2.5 percentage point improvement over the previous cohort and the highest retention rate we’ve seen among all cohorts to date.
Over 18% of Tennessee Promise students in the 2023-24 cohort enrolled at TCATs in their first semester. This is also a historic high, marking a 1.6 percentage point increase from the last cohort.
The Tennessee Promise program includes a last-dollar scholarship that provides recent high school graduates the opportunity to complete an associate degree, certificate, or diploma program free of tuition and mandatory fees at a public community college, a Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT), or a public or private university with an eligible associate degree program. As a last-dollar scholarship, Tennessee Promise funds the remaining balance of tuition and mandatory fees after all other gift aid has been applied.
The program pairs Tennessee Promise students with a mentor and support through the state’s partnering organizations, tnAchieves and The Ayers Foundation Trust.
