Lottery Changes for Tennessee Students

Below is a quick update on the Tennessee Lottery Status that the TSAC will be providing in the near future:


The renewable GPA for a college student is:

The new law allows for a 2.75 at both 24 and 48 credit hour benchmarks. The 72 and 96 credit hour benchmarks remain at 3.0 cumulative. There is no longer a 120 credit hour limit to receive the Hope and defaults tothe 5 years from the point of enrollment or the completion of a Baccalaureatedegree.

The language for the Non-Traditional Hope Scholarship has changed as well. The bill removed the first-time Freshman language and allows for a student to haveprevious college work provided it was not attained within the previous twoyears. As well, students may not become eligible for the scholarship after 12semester hours provided they have attained the Hope Scholarship renewal GPA of2.75.

The legislation also created two new programs. The first is entitled theHelping Heroes Act of 2008. This scholarship program assist those Tennessee residents who have been honorably discharged with Iraqi or Afghanistan Campaign Medals, and/or the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. The veteran will be eligible to apply for the grant after completing six semester hours. The scholarship is limited to eight semesters in the full-time student amountof $1,000 and half-time amount of $500 per semester. The grant will be given on a first-come-first serve basis to 375 students.

The second program is entitled the Rural Health Act of 2008. This program creates five year pilot program of 25 scholarships in the first year and nomore than 50 scholarships in subsequent years. Students studying for to becomea nurse practitioner, physician assistant, physician, osteopathic physician, ordentist are eligible to apply. The students must be able to complete their work prior to the end of the pilot program. The scholarship amount is cappedat $12,000 per student per year with a program cap of $300,000 in years one andfive and $600,000 in years two, three and four. Recipients of this scholarship program must agree to serve in a designated underserved area forthe same number of years for which they received the scholarship. The studentis required to repay the scholarship for failure to meet the servicerequirement.

Tennesse Lottery Scholarship Addtional Information