Tennessee Promise Application Now Open
The Tennessee Promise scholarship application opens on Friday, August 1, 2025. Since the last dollar scholarship was introduced in 2014, thousands of students have taken advantage of the two-year, tuition-free attendance opportunity to earn an associate degree at participating colleges across the state.
The Tennessee Promise scholarship is open for students to attend more than 40 community and technical colleges, and some four-year institutions that offer associate degree programs in Tennessee. It is both a scholarship and mentoring program with mentor volunteers who work with the students through the application process to ensure they get off to a good start pre-college. The goal is to increase the number of students who attend and graduate from postsecondary schools in Tennessee.
“Tennessee Promise has helped more than 250,000 Tennessee students access college over the past ten years,” said Dr. Steven Gentile, THEC Executive Director. “We are excited that the Class of 2026 will have the opportunity to not just benefit from this program but to break last year’s application record. We and our partners remain committed to helping students take the first step toward earning a college credential.”
There is no application fee, grade point average, or college entrance exam score required for a student to be eligible to apply for the Tennessee Promise scholarship. Applicants must:
- Be a high school senior who graduates from an eligible high school, completes a Tennessee homeschool program, or, prior to his or her 19th birthday, obtains a GED or HiSET diploma.
- Complete the Tennessee Promise application by Monday, November 3, 2025.
- Apply for the FAFSA using the application that opens Wednesday, October 1, 2025.
- Attend a mandatory Tennessee Promise meeting in your area. Start looking for announcements December 2025.
- Complete eight (8.0) hours of community service, which may be started on or after Tuesday, November 4, 2025, and must be completed by Wednesday, July 1, 2026.
My Child Isn’t Going to College!
If you have a high school senior who, for now, has no plans to attend college, they are still encouraged to complete the application. Applying does not obligate a student to attend college but does ensure they do not miss the opportunity to receive the scholarship if they later change their mind and want to attend. That way, the decision to not receive the scholarship will be their’s and not decided for them because they did not complete the application.
Don’t Miss the Application Deadline!
The Tennessee Promise application closes Monday, November 3, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. If the deadline is missed, there is no grace. Complete the Tennessee Promise application now!
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