Student Financial Aid

Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship programs.  In the very near future the Tennessee Promise reserve account will meet its goal of fully funding its initial purpose of providing free certifications or a community college education for recent high school graduates.  Once this occurs, the funds being swept into the reserve account will become available to support current Hope Scholarship Programs.  We recommend serious consideration be given to the following proposals.

Educator Preparation Programs (EPP)  

The university based EPPs have invested tremendous resources in improving their programs.  The recent gains in student performance give testimony to this investment.  As well, our programs remain committed to implementation and accountability of the Tennessee Literacy Success Act.  We put forth the following issues for consideration related to EPPs.

Recently, there have been several legislative proposals that would approve third-party alternative EPPs that have not met the state’s standards. We fully support the existing procedures as outlined by the State Board of Education to approve EPPs and believe all programs should have to meet the same standards – no exceptions. Compromising on standards and rigor will not provide the quality of education Tennessee’s children deserve.

Additional endorsements have become increasingly important to fill high need teaching positions. 

On October 8, 2021, a federal grand jury in Nashville returned a five-count indictment charging Senate Education Chair, Brian Kelsey with violating multiple campaign finance laws as part of a conspiracy to benefit Kelsey’s 2016 campaign for U.S. Congress. (Read more HERE.)

Sen. Kelsey denies the charges and went to Twitter to post the claim, “This is nothing but a political witch hunt.  The Biden Administration is trying to take me out because I’m conservative, and I’m the #1 target of the Tennessee Democratic Party.”

According to State Senate rules, a senator under federal indictment may not serve as a chair of a committee.  Kelsey does have the right to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to plead his case to remain as Education Chair, but thus far has chosen not to do so.  As a result, Senator Jon Lundberg, the Committee’s 1st Vice Chair, is serving in the capacity of Chair. 

With a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) related to COVID.  U.S. President Biden’s administration was using the OSHA ETS provisions to mandate testing and masking for all employees who failed to become vaccinated from the COVID virus.  This would have applied to all employers with 100 or more employees.  

The ETS would have also required that employers keep detailed records on which employees were vaccinated.  This provision would have placed Tennessee employers in direct conflict with state law.  Consequently, with the Supreme Court’s action, the only binding law related to COVID restrictions is what was passed by the Tennessee legislature during the Third Extraordinary Session this past October.  It is anticipated that during this current session the legislature will open the measure in order to make some modifications.

REGISTER TODAY for the upcoming 66th TICUA Annual Meeting of the Presidents! This year’s in-person meeting provides an opportunity to discuss key policy issues facing TICUA member institutions in a post-COVID environment with a focus on affordability and student access.

This year’s agenda features conversations with many Legislative leaders of the 112th Tennessee General Assembly. As well, we have invited key policy leaders to visit with us concerning the future of higher education in Tennessee. Invitations have been extended to Governor Bill Lee, Lt. Governor Randy McNally, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, House and Senate Education Chairs as well as the House and Senate Finance Chairs.