TN Promise is a last-dollar scholarship that provides the opportunity for every Tennessee high school student to earn a post-secondary credential. This also applies to students who complete a GED or HiSET prior to their 19th birthday.

The deadline to apply for TN Promise for the Class of 2026 high school seniors is November 3, 2025.

Applicants may apply online at www.tnpromise.gov.

Any high school senior who graduates from an eligible Tennessee high school or completes a Tennessee homeschool program is eligible to apply for TN Promise. Students will apply at the beginning of the academic year in which they will graduate and begin working with tnAchieves. To receive TN Promise funds, students must complete the tnAchieves program.

Students who complete a GED or HiSET diploma (and have met all other TN Promise eligibility requirements) must enroll full-time in an eligible post-secondary program the fall term after they receive their high school diploma, provided that the diploma was earned before they reach 19 years of age.

• All students have the option to enroll as early as the summer term at a TN Promise eligible institution.

• If you are an early high school graduate, you can begin college as early as the spring/winter term at a TN Promise eligible institution.

  • An early high school graduate is defined as any student who graduates from an eligible high school, home school program, GED or HiSET curriculum before the spring term of what would have been a student’s senior year of high school. 

Requirements for TN Promise Early College Enrollment:

• Complete the 2026 TN Promise application at www.TNPromise.gov by November 3, 2025.

• Satisfy the Mandatory TN Promise Meeting requirement by March 16, 2026.

  • As an early graduate, students will receive a mandatory webinar via email after the TN Promise application closes on November 3, 2025. The Mandatory TN Promise Meeting requirement can be fulfilled by viewing this webinar, but we ask that students also attend the in-person meeting at their former high school (if possible). The mandatory meeting schedule will be available soon!

• Complete and submit TWO separate Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applications by April 1, 2026.

  • Complete the 2025-2026 FAFSA AND the 2026-2027 FAFSA by April 1, 2026 at FAFSA.gov.

Please note, early enrollment is completely optional! Students are not required to enroll prior to the fall 2026 term. To qualify for early college enrollment, you must meet the requirements outlined below by the given deadlines. Please connect with your college of choice for more information regarding early enrollment!

If a student chooses to enroll at a post-secondary institution for the spring term with TN Promise funding, the spring term will count as one of the available 5 semesters/8 trimesters allowed with the scholarship. Additionally, if you are an early high school graduate and you wish to enroll during the spring term, you are required to complete all the requirements outlined above by January 5, 2026 for your TN Promise award to be applied to your financial aid account prior to when payments are due. If you fail to complete your early enrollment requirements by this date, you may be required to pay out of pocket and be reimbursed after all requirements have been met. Please note, you MUST complete all requirements by the mandatory deadlines outlined above to receive TN Promise funding for the spring and/or summer term.

No. To be eligible, students must be able to complete the FAFSA, qualify for in-state tuition and possess a valid Social Security number. The DACA number is NOT a valid entry on the Tennessee Promise application. A student must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for which the student’s U.S. citizenship or eligible non-citizenship status has been confirmed by the federal government. Note: This option is only available for:

1. U.S. Citizens;

2. U.S. permanent residents (with an I-151, I-551, or I-551C permanent resident card); or

3. Individuals who have an Arrival/Departure Record (I-94) showing one of the following designations: Refugee, Asylum Granted, Cuban-Haitian Entrant (Status Pending), Conditional Entrant (Valid only if issued before April 1, 1980), Victims of Human Trafficking (T-2, T-3, or T-4 visa), or Parolee (who meets certain conditions).

TN Promise is a last-dollar scholarship that funds tuition and mandatory fees at eligible TN Promise post-secondary institutions. These funds cannot be used for books, cost of attendance fees or fees associated with a specific program or class. In order to use the TN Promise scholarship at a four-year college or university, students must enroll in and be accepted into an associates degree program at that school – not a bachelor’s degree program. Students enrolling in a health sciences program will not be eligible to receive TN Promise funding until admitted into the actual program of study.

At a four-year institution, the TN Promise scholarship may not be last-dollar, meaning it may not fully cover all tuition and mandatory fees. The amount of funding you will receive will be based on the average amount of tuition and mandatory fees at a community college, which is estimated to be $4,700 per year. As a last-dollar scholarship, TN Promise will provide whatever amount remains after Pell, HOPE and TSAA funds are applied. For example, if the average tuition and mandatory fees at a community college were $4,700 per year and you were receiving $4,500 in HOPE funds each year but no other federal or state aid, TN Promise would provide $200 to be applied toward tuition and mandatory fees at one of the eligible four-year institutions.

TN Promise only funds last-dollar tuition and mandatory fees and does not pay for books or other post-secondary expenses (e.g. application fee, program and service fees).

Students must begin college the fall term immediately following high school graduation. However, students have the option to begin college early with TN Promise funding provided the student meets all necessary requirements. Please reference "WHAT IF A STUDENT WANTS TO ENROLL EARLY (PRIOR TO FALL) WITH TN PROMISE?" for more information. 

After students meet all TN Promise requirements, the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC) will send the funds to the eligible institution after all Pell, TELS (e.g., HOPE and Wilder-Naifeh) and TSAA funding have been applied.

Students never directly receive funding from TN Promise. TSAC will send funds directly to the college.

Students never directly receive funding from TN Promise. TSAC will send funds directly to the colleges.

If a student continues to meet all requirements, TN Promise funding is available for five consecutive semesters at a community college, eight consecutive trimesters at a TCAT or until a terminating event (graduation or transfer to a non-TN Promise institution) has occurred.

Failure to meet any TN Promise deadline will result in a student being permanently ineligible for TN Promise.

TN Promise eligible post-secondary institutions offer associate degree programs. In order for a student to receive TN Promise funding at one of these eligible institutions, he/she must meet all deadlines, as well as be accepted in the associate degree program. At these institutions, funding for TN Promise will not be last dollar. The scholarship will be determined by the amount a student would receive should he/she attend a community college. This amount would be portable to the eligible four-year institution. In other words, if a student’s last-dollar amount at a community college is $0 due to a full Pell Grant being awarded, he/she would not receive any funding at the eligible four-year institution. If a student receives the HOPE scholarship only, he/she would receive approximately $200 each semester from TN Promise at the four-year institution.

Please click here for community service opportunities near you on our community service page, or check your college's service learning page for ideas!

Please remember that you cannot get paid or work for a family member and you must volunteer with an actual organization (e.g. church, school, animal or homeless shelter) to complete your community service requirement.

Students experiencing problems submitting the community service form should email concerns to tnachieves@tnachieves.org. Problems with submission do not excuse a student from meeting the established deadline.

Submit your hours via the community service form by clicking HERE.

A student may request a medical or personal leave of absence from timely enrollment in the initial term, full-time attendance or continuous enrollment at an eligible post-secondary institution as long as all other applicable eligibility criteria are met. Medical or personal appeals will be considered in the following situations: illness of the student, illness or death of an immediate family member, extreme financial hardship of the student or student’s immediate family, fulfillment of a religious commitment expected of members of that faith, fulfillment of required military service, enrollment for a specific TCAT program being unavailable until a later trimester or other extraordinary circumstances beyond the student’s control where attendance by the student creates a substantial hardship.

In order to request a leave of absence after initial enrollment, a student must visit Scholarship, Appeals, and Exceptions for instructions on submitting an appeal.

In order to complete an appeal prior to initial enrollment, a student must contact their college's financial aid office to complete the appeal process as specified by his/her college. In the event an institution denies a student’s request for a medical or personal leave of absence, the student may appeal the decision in accordance with the rules.

The Tennessee Transfer Pathways ensures that students may follow a prescribed curriculum that is transferable, marked by clarity and available for students to review on the first day of enrollment. There are approved transfer pathways that span multiple disciplines and are accepted at all public institutions in Tennessee. More information about participating institutions can be found HERE.

Although a student who completes an associate degree is no longer eligible for TN Promise, the student should contact the four-year institution he/she is interested in to discuss other sources of aid.

tnAchieves uses the contact information initially provided on the TN Promise application to send important communication related to program requirements. Failure to notify tnAchieves of changes may result in students missing important emails and texts related to upcoming deadlines.

Yes. TN Promise will cover remedial classes if a student should need to take them. If you score below a 19 on the ACT, you might be interested in our Summer Programs.

For the time students are TN Promise scholars, they will be referred to as the class year in which they graduated from high school.

If a student is unable to begin at a TCAT the fall immediately following high school graduation due to the intended TCAT program being full, the student must be reported as on an official wait list by the TCAT in order to remain TN Promise eligible. The student must begin their program as soon as a spot is available to them. The student must also meet the initial August 1 community service deadline after high school graduation.

No, students are not required to repay their TN Promise scholarship. However, we strongly encourage students to finish their program. Before stopping, please reach out to someone on our team so we can help you find a solution that includes finishing your program!