News & Press: Policy Update

Policy Update | March 7, 2025

Friday, March 7, 2025
Posted by: TICUA

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TICUA Policy Update

Weekly updates from TICUA President Cameron Conn during session

Friday, March 7

Tuesday’s House Education Committee

PHOTOGRAPHY: Dyersburg City Schools at Tuesday’s House Education Committee on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.

Dyersburg City Schools/Facebook

Tuesday’s House Education Committee agenda began with confirmations for the State Board of Education, the University of Tennessee Advisory Board, and seven appointments to the Tennessee State University Board of Trustees. Following the confirmation, the committee listened to a presentation from 6th grade students from Dyersburg City Schools (my alma mater!) who helped to make their school more accessible for a classmate who uses a wheelchair. The committee then heard three bills related to K-12, and adjourned before they could hear any of the higher education bills that were on the calendar.

House Higher Education Subcommittee

The House Higher Education Subcommittee convened Wednesday with five bills on the agenda. HB1324, a THEC reorganization bill, was rolled two weeks, and HB0738, about adding cosmetology and barbering schools as eligible for TN Promise grants, was rolled to the last week of the subcommittee, when they will hear all bills related to lottery scholarship funds at one time.

HB0407, which requires THEC to develop a program to award students enrolled in public institutions of higher education a $250 grant for voluntarily obtaining testing for sexually transmitted diseases, was taken off notice, meaning it will not be presented for a vote this session.

HB0645 adds Western Governors University (WGU) as a postsecondary institution at which Tennessee students may receive the Senator Ben Atchley Opportunity Grant, an additional $2,000 per year for low-income students who qualify for the Tennessee Student Assistance Award (TSAA).

THEC’s Chief of External Relations, Lou Hanemann, testified about the current TSAA budget, from which the Ben Atchley Grant is funded. Last year the funding covered approximately 80% of the eligible students. After several questions about the fiscal note and how expanding WGU’s eligibility could impact students on other campuses (i.e., it could reduce availability for other students), the bill passed, but subcommittee members commented that they would like additional information about the impact of this bill prior to the full House Education Committee vote next week.

TICUA is actively engaging with all House Education Committee members to provide data about public and private recipients of the TSAA and Ben Atchley grants. Our objective is to make sure all members have accurate information about what they are voting for: giving a double portion of the need-based grant to an already low-cost, online institution, not domiciled in Tennessee. The bill has not been put on the calendar for the Senate Education Committee yet.

HB1227 amends code around the Tennessee Higher Education Commission by adding the executive director of THEC to the statutorily prescribed selection process for chief executive officers of public institutions of higher education; revising various reporting and other duties of the commission; and expanding the non-degree credentials for which a student may receive the Wilder-Naifeh technical skills grant. This bill passed and will move to the House Education Committee next.

The Senate Education Committee also had a full calendar of committee confirmations as well as budget hearings from Austin Peay State University, Tennessee Tech, and Tennessee State University on Wednesday afternoon. Only one bill on their agenda had implications for higher education.

SB0172 establishes the hunger-free campus grant program that could provide grants to higher education institutions to address student hunger. Although it has a small fiscal note ($300,000), THEC has explained that they are hoping to establish the program in code rather than seek appropriations this session. Once created, the program could accept donations from private partners as well as allocations from the state budget. Private universities are included as eligible for the program. The bill passed in Senate Education but will also need to pass through the House before coming to the floor. TICUA is very supportive of this measure, which could provide supplemental funds to campuses who have food pantries and other programs to address students’ food insecurity.