UT Promise – the next phase

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Four days, 14 schools visited, 4,800 students reached and 1,573 miles traveled – all to spread the word to high school juniors and seniors about the University of Tennessee’s new, innovative scholarship program called UT Promise.

UT Promise is a last-dollar scholarship program that guarantees free tuition and mandatory fees for qualifying Tennessee undergraduate students with a family household income of under $50,000 after other financial aid is received (such as Pell Grants, HOPE Scholarship or other institutional scholarships) at UT Knoxville, UT Chattanooga, UT Martin and UT Health Science Center. Students must qualify for the Tennessee Hope Scholarship and meet the academic qualifications for the institution to be eligible for this new scholarship.

But this scholarship is about more than access. It’s also about ensuring success. All eligible UT Promise students will be matched with volunteer mentors and will complete eight volunteer service hours each semester.

Since we launched the UT Promise statewide tour in Memphis, Martin, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Tri-Cities, more than 2,500 applications have been submitted by Tennessee high school students. Incoming freshman must fill out the UT Promise application by Dec. 15 to be considered.

And now, the application process is open for current UT undergraduate students who wish to apply for the UT Promise scholarship. Additionally, qualifying Tennessee residents who meet the criteria for UT Promise can transfer from any institution.

 

Current UT students wishing to apply for UT Promise must complete the following steps:

I am thrilled that we are able to offer this scholarship to our current undergraduate students who attend our UT campuses across the state. We are committed to helping our students achieve their dream of obtaining an undergraduate degree, and the UT Promise scholarship helps alleviate some of the financial burden many future and current college students face.

UT Promise will welcome its first class in the fall of 2020, and the scholarship program will include those students who were previously enrolled in college when the program begins in 2020.

UT Promise will be another tool in the state’s Drive to 55 workforce development initiative, which aims to get 55 percent of Tennesseans equipped with a college degree or certificate by the year 2025.

More information about UT Promise is available at: tennessee.edu/ut-promise.

 

Randy Boyd

 

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