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News & Press: Policy Update

TICUA Policy Update: Student “Thank You!” Email Campaign Launched

Friday, January 21, 2022  

112th General Assembly
Policy Update

January 21, 2022

Student “Thank You!” Email Campaign Launched

TICUA launched a student “Thank You!” email campaign to demonstrate to lawmakers how important the Hope Scholarship is to making college affordable. Over 12,000 students attending a TICUA member college or university benefits from this important program.

In this year’s legislative priorities, TICUA is again asking for an increase in the Hope Scholarship amount in order to restore its purchasing power back to when the program began. Calculating a simple cost of living increase, the average scholarship amount would exceed $5,800. Governor Bill Lee has expressed interest in possibly increasing the scholarship amount during this legislative session.

Campus financial aid officers are beginning to reach out to their students and ask that they consider emailing a note of thanks to their state lawmakers. Participating in this campaign would serve as a critical component of securing an increase for the scholarship program.  The campaign can be found HERE.

State of the State Address
Governor Bill Lee will deliver his State of the State address on January 31, 2022.  The Governor is expected to outline his agenda for the upcoming legislative session. It is expected that the Governor will outline a revamping of the K-12 funding scheme. It has been decades since the formula has been thoroughly reconsidered. Commissioner Penny Schwinn has been hosting a series of town hall meetings to get input from families and key stakeholders about what the new formula should look like. Governor Lee is expected to summarize those findings and outline his recommended changes.
Western Governors University Seeks Hope Scholarship

Senator Mike Bell and Representative Chris Hurt have revived their efforts to allow Western Governors University (WGU) access to the Hope Scholarship program. Essentially the lawmakers took a bill that was filed last year in the first session of the 112th General Assembly and rolled it to this year for consideration.  

If passed, the bill will change the definition of an eligible institution for Hope Scholarships. The bill would make an exception to the Tennessee domiciled requirement for eligibility. WGU is a regionally accredited university, but is headquartered in Utah, thus currently making them an ineligible university.  

The bill carries a $1.3 million fiscal note, but more concerning is that it would open the door to other non-Tennessee domiciled regionally accredited institutions operating in Tennessee to request access to the scholarship program. At last count, there are over 50 regionally accredited colleges and universities operating in Tennessee with on-ground and/or online. Some of these include, University of Arkansas, Troy State University, Lindsay Wilson College, BIOLA University, and Bellarmine University. TICUA has remained opposed to altering the definition of eligible institutions.

TICUA Annual Meeting

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.

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