TICUA Policy Update

House Higher Education Subcommittee

HB1324/SB1312 changes the name of the Wilder-Naifeh Technical Skills Grant to TennesseeWORKS Scholarship, as proposed in the Governor’s State of the State address. The retitled scholarship would cover all the required equipment and supplies, in addition to tuition and fees, for all the TCATs. The bill was approved to move to the full House Education Committee, but leader Lamberth noted that the bill has a $12M fiscal note and will advance based on budget availability.

HB0408/SB0689 is a caption bill that was amended to dissolve the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC) governing board and transfer its responsibilities to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) Board. By statute, the TICUA chief executive officer is a member of the TSAC Board. To ensure that the private higher education sector maintains a voice and advisory role in the state’s higher education priorities and financial aid programs, the amendment also adds the president of TICUA as a member of a currently existing review committee charged with the development and revision of the higher education master plan and state financial aid. The TICUA president will join the review committee currently comprised of the THEC executive director, the chancellor of the board of regents, the president of the University of Tennessee system, each president of a board of regents state university, and select members of the legislative and executive branches of state government. The amendment also terminates the Tennessee Teaching Scholars Program and the Minority Teaching Fellows Program, which have already been phased out since 2023.

HB0194/SB0536 is also a caption bill. The amendment added in committee focuses on updating the state’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) laws for student athletes and universities. The bill allows institutions to directly pay student athletes, adds multiple provisions to protect students’ confidentiality, and ensures the NCAA’s liability cannot be transferred to the state.

HB0007/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 previously passed in Senate Education Committee.

HB1036/SB1024has been significantly amended, though the revised text is not yet publicly available online. As amended, the bill allows state college and university boards to conduct certain business privately, without public access. Examples include contract negotiations and senior leadership performance reviews.

Chairman Baum announced that the House Higher Education Subcommittee will hear its final calendar, which will include all bills that affect lottery scholarship funds, next week.  

Senate Education Committee

Also, on Wednesday afternoon the Senate Education Committee began hearing its final calendar. The meeting began with confirmations for University of TN Advisory Board members, followed by discussion of over 30 bills. The higher education bills are highlighted below.

SB1085/*HB0777 allows a private postsecondary institution that is a candidate for accreditation by a regional accrediting association and that has its primary campus domiciled in this state to serve as an institution at which a student may be enrolled for purposes of receiving financial aid funded using net proceeds of the state lottery. The bill passed, and if approved through the House as well, will allow Williamson College, TICUA associate member, to begin receiving Hope Scholarships after their SACSCOC candidacy approval-hopefully sometime in 2025.

SB0933/*HB0919 modifies the appointing authority of the governor, the speaker of the senate, and the speaker of the house of representatives to state college and university boards. The amendment adds two additional appointments to the boards of the Tennessee Board of Regents (Community Colleges and TCATS), locally-governed state universities, and the University of Tennessee System. The bill gives the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor authority to appoint two members each to each board, in addition to the board members currently appointed by the governor. The bill passed.

SB1151/HB0789 removes the requirement that a student with a documented intellectual disability be admitted to, and enrolled in, an eligible postsecondary institution in an eligible postsecondary program no later than 16 months after completing high school in order to be eligible to receive a Tennessee STEP UP scholarship. The bill passed but is still pending in the House Higher Education Subcommittee because it is funded by the lottery.

SB0686/HB0148 creates the Tennessee Promise completion grant special account in the state treasury for purposes of awarding completion grants to certain Tennessee Promise scholarship students; makes the four-year pilot program established by the commission to award completion grants to certain Tennessee Promise scholarship students a permanent program. This bill passed and is awaiting a vote from the House Education Committee.

House Joint Resolution HJR0175, which has already passed on the House floor, urges Tennessee universities to adopt principles of institutional neutrality, free expression and civil discourse, and the preservation of a safe and respectful campus. The committee passed it, and it heads to the Senate floor next.

SB0950/HB0958, as amended, creates a Federal Education Deregulation Cooperation Task Force to prepare this state for the potential of deregulation of federal laws, regulations, requirements, and guidance for kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) education. Requires the appointing authorities to make appointments to the Task Force by July 1, 2025, and the Chair of the Senate Education Committee to convene the Task Force for its first meeting by August 1, 2025. The bill passed and heads to the House committees next week.