Tennessee Promise Scholarship : TSAC Student Portal
Tennessee Promise Scholarship : TSAC Student Portal
Tennessee Promise is both a scholarship and mentoring program that began in the fall of 2015. It will provide students a last-dollar scholarship, meaning the scholarship will cover tuition and fees not covered by the Federal Pell grant, the TN Education Lottery Scholarship, and the TN Student Assistance Award; students may use the scholarship at any of the state’s 13 community colleges, 27 colleges of applied technology, or other eligible institutions offering an associate’s degree program.
Please note the award will not cover the balance of tuition and fees at a public four-year or private institution. While removing the financial burden is key, a critical component of Tennessee Promise is the individual guidance each participant will receive from a mentor who will assist the student as he or she navigates the college admissions process.
In addition, Tennessee Promise participants must complete eight hours of community service per term enrolled, as well as maintain satisfactory academic progress (2.0 GPA) at their institution.
For optimal performance, please use a browser other than Internet Explorer. Information provided by the student when creating an account and applying for scholarships online must be accurate. Failure to provide accurate information will cause a delay in determining your scholarship eligibility or potential loss of an award. You must know the following when creating a student portal account:
- Student’s First Name and Last Name – as it appears on the Social Security card
- Student’s Social Security Number – as it appears on the Social Security card
- Student’s Date of Birth
- Student’s email address (if available) – THEC/TSAC strongly encourages students to provide a personal email address, rather than a school-issued email address.
Applying for a scholarship (example: the Tennessee Promise) is not complete once a student portal account has been created.
Next, you must re-enter your Username and Password and answer the challenge question. Once you have accepted the “User Agreement”, click the “Apply for Scholarships” button and then click the appropriate scholarship program to complete and submit the online application.
For future student portal access to apply online or to view your financial aid summary, it is important to remember the Username and Password you have created.
Eligibility
Tennessee resident/U.S. citizen/eligible non-citizen/students who graduate from an eligible high School, homeschool, or earn a GED/HISET (prior to 19th birthday) can receive an award at an eligible postsecondary institution toward tuition and mandatory fees after all other gift aid has been first applied.
Students must attend mandatory meetings and participate in a mentoring program. College students must attend full-time, continue to participate in the mentoring program, and perform 8 hours of community service prior to each term the award is received. This scholarship program began in the 2015-16 academic year.
Application Process
High School students will be required to complete the Tennessee Promise application at TSAC Student Portal by November 1 for the fall term and the FAFSA by February 1 at www.fafsa.gov.
If students and their families haven’t filed taxes by the deadline, can they still file the FAFSA before the Tennessee Promise deadline?
Yes. Students can file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) anytime between October 1 and the deadline and still be eligible for Tennessee Promise. Beginning in the 2017-18 academic year, students and families file the FAFSA using “prior-prior year” tax information, meaning that 2015 tax information was used for the 2017-2018 FAFSA.
Student can use the IRS Data Retrieval tool when filling out the FAFSA to gather the 2015 tax information.
Some students may also be asked to verify their FAFSA information. If a student is selected for verification, he or she must provide the necessary documentation to the institution in order to be awarded the Tennessee Promise scholarship. Some partnering organizations may ask students to provide verification documentation to institutions by July 15
FAFSA Login @ www.fafsa.gov login: FAFSA Application | Federal Student Aid
How do students renew this scholarship?
Once in the program, students must do the following to retain their scholarship:
• Maintain full-time enrollment and participation if at a community college or in an eligible program at a participating four-year institution or continuous enrollment and satisfactory academic progress if at a TN College of Applied Technology
• Complete and submit eight (8) hours of community service per term enrolled, by the deadlines communicated in Rule and by the partnering organization
• Complete the FAFSA by the deadline each year the student participates in the program.
