A couple of months ago it was announced that Tennessee students would have the opportunity to attend community college for free through the Tennessee Promise program. The Tennessee Promise program is set to allot $34 million this year to cover the remaining tuition costs (not covered by state and federal government grants) of eligible students at one of the state’s 13 community colleges, 27 colleges of applied technology, or other eligible institutions.
The big catch? Students who want to be eligible for the Tennessee Promise program must complete eight hours of community service per semester by August 1st. Eight hours, about one day’s worth of work, for a semester’s education. Pretty good deal, right?
So then why have only 28% of potentially eligible students completed their requirements?
Executive Director of Tennessee Promise Mike Krause had this to say to USA Today about the figures:
“This is probably because of the combination that it’s summer and the deadline is Aug. 1. Kids in the summer tend to be a bit more busy. Obviously, there’s some procrastination that comes into play, but we’re seeing the numbers increase daily and I think we’ll be where we need to be by Aug. 1.” [source]
There are a few other places that are finding ways to make tuition available for less fortunate students, which is a good thing for everybody. The more people doing community service also means that more people will remain in engaged in community service–also a good thing.
