Tennessee makes community college free for all adults

[cynatnite]

Once in a while TN does something right.

Lawmakers approved legislation Wednesday that will expand the Tennessee Promise program that launched in 2014. It made tuition and fees free for recent high school graduates enrolled in a community college or technical school. Now, adults who don't already have an associate's or bachelor's degree can go for free, too, starting in the 2018 fall semester.

Governor Bill Haslam is expected to sign the bill into law. He proposed the legislation in his State of the State address earlier this year. It's a cornerstone of his initiative to increase the number of residents with a college education to 55% by 2025. Last year, less than 39% of residents had gone to college.

"If we want to have jobs ready for Tennesseans, we have to make sure that Tennesseans are ready for jobs, and there is no smarter investment than increasing access to high-quality education," Haslam said in a statement.

To be eligible, students must have been a state resident for at least a year before applying, maintain a 2.0 GPA, enroll in enough classes to be a part-time student, and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

Free Community College in TN

[dawg]

1. Congrats to Tennessee!

All of our states have potential, and certainly that is the case for Tennessee.

Nashville is actually a pretty progressive place - a big blue island in a red sea.

I also like Chattanooga. When I'm governor, we're going to invade and take that city. Then we'll build a giant pipeline all the way down to Atlanta, and use it to suck the Tennessee River dry.

[GBizzle]

2. Haslam is a right-wing billionaire Republican. Very surprised to see this from him.