tnAchieves Scholarships Helping Kids Attend Community College

Nashville, TN (2011-09-29) While the Class of 2012 will not graduate until next May, students planning on attending a community college next Fall must complete paperwork by mid-October for tuition assistance from tnAchieves, an East Tennessee non-profit organization.

tnAchieves, is a college access, last dollar scholarship program designed to provide an opportunity for Tennessee public high school graduates to receive up to $3,000 annually for community college tuition. While the scholarship dollars are available to any 2012 public high school graduate in the program’s 25-county region, the non-profit is focused on providing scholarships to first generation college students. The program was developed to address the underutilization of post-secondary opportunities in Knox County. After receiving a federal grant, the program was expanded across East Tennessee.

The program is funding solely with private donations, and volunteers provide mentoring services to students in the program to eliminate the barriers of post-secondary education. Recipients volunteer their time and energy by giving back to the community with at least one community services project per semester.

“The impact of tnAchieves has provided a much needed helping hand to first-generation college going students, students with financial hardships, and students that need just a little mentoring to be extremely successful college students and eventually college graduates,” commented Dr. Gary Goff, President of Roane State Community College. “Roane State is proud to partner with the tnAchieves program,” he added.

In order to apply, students planning on attending college in the Fall of 2012 must complete an application by October 14, 2011.

For more information, you may contact Graham Thomas at (865) 218-4287 or by email at graham@tnachieves.org.