Lottery Changes for 2006-2007

Changes were made to the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship Program (TELS) by the state legislature in June 2006. These changes will be effective beginning with the Fall 2006 semester.

The following information is based on early information from the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation. Please note that the policy is subject to change without notice.

This site will be updated as we receive further information from TSAC.

Senate Bill 2683 changes the basic HOPE scholarship amounts from $3,300 to $3,800 at eligible four year postsecondary institutions, from $1,650 to $1,900 at eligible two year postsecondary institutions and (Wilder-Naifeh) from $1,300 to $1,500 at eligible technology centers. It also makes certain students who are Tennessee citizens and dependent children of religious workers serving outside the United States and certain students graduating from accredited high schools in a contiguous out-of-state county eligible for a Tennessee HOPE scholarship.

Senate Bill 2724 establishes Tennessee HOPE teacher's scholarships as part of the system of lottery funded scholarships. Teachers eligible for the scholarship must be seeking an advanced degree in math or a science or certification to teach math or science. The teachers' scholarships are $2,000 per year up to a maximum award of $10,000 per recipient for all years. Recipients must agree to teach math or science in a Tennessee public school system 2 years for each year of scholarship funding received and awards must be repaid by each recipient to the extent that such obligation is not met.

Senate Bill 2981 permits students who are initially eligible for a Tennessee HOPE scholarship but who instead obtain a Wilder-Naifeh technical skills grant, to be eligible for a HOPE scholarship at either an eligible two-year or four-year institution. The student must apply for a HOPE scholarship within 3 years of the diploma program. Additionally, hours taken by a student at a Tennessee technology center towards a diploma before receiving a Tennessee HOPE scholarship, a General Assembly Merit Scholarship or a Tennessee HOPE access grant do not count under the provisions of Section 49-4-913 or 49-4-920 as semester hours attempted for purposes of calculating the number of semester hours for which a student may receive one of the HOPE scholarships.

Senate Bill 3149 makes provision for the communication of lottery scholarship information to high school students and their parents by both TSAC and local high schools in Tennessee. The bill actually makes the lottery scholarship day by TSAC permissive instead of mandatory but requires each high school to conduct at least one lottery scholarship day and workshops on completing college admissions and financial aid applications for 10 ^th through 12 ^th grade students and their parents. TSAC is required to provide the same types of information that current law has required (i.e., lottery scholarship eligibility requirements, information relative to postsecondary institutions admission standards and scholarship eligibility, computation of grade point averages for purposes of lottery scholarship availability and information relative to the ACT and SAT). TSAC must provide such information at its lottery scholarship day, if it conducts one, and must provide a summary of the information it prepares to the department of education for dissemination to schools conducting lottery scholarship days. Administrative costs incurred by the department of education and TSAC are funded from the lottery for education account.

House Bill 2809 allows students attending private, as well as public, postsecondary institutions to obtain Tennessee HOPE foster child tuition grants.