TN Higher Education Commission Announces 2024 FAFSA Champions
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TN Higher Education Commission Announces 2024 FAFSA Champions
An impressive 117 high schools across Tennessee have been recognized this year as FAFSA Champions for the Class of 2024.
The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) and the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC) award the designation of FAFSA Champion to schools whose Tennessee Promise FAFSA completion rate exceeds 90% or increased by 5% or more over the previous year.
THEC/TSAC partnered earlier this year with dozens of education and community partners across the state to launch a special FAFSA Frenzy campaign to strongly encourage and support all students and families in completing the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
East Tennessee high schools honored as 2024 FAFSA Champions include:
Bledsoe County
Bledsoe County High School
Bradley County
North Cleveland Goal Academy
Campbell County
Campbell County Comprehensive High School and Jellico High School
Claiborne County
Claiborne High School and Cumberland Gap High School
Cocke County
Cocke Co High School and Cosby High School
Cumberland County
The Phoenix School, Franklin County and Huntland School
Grundy County
Grundy County High School
Hamilton County
Chatt High Center For Creative Arts, Chattanooga School for Arts and Sciences Upper, Hamilton County Collegiate High at Chattanooga State, Hixson High School, Sequoyah High School, Soddy Daisy High School and STEM School Chattanooga
Hancock County
Hancock High School
Knox County
Austin East High/Magnet, Hardin Valley Academy, L&N STEM Academy, Karns High School, Powell High School
Marion County
Marion County High School
Meigs County
Meigs County High School
Morgan County
Central High School
Roane County
Midway High School, Rockwood High School
Scott County
Scott High School and Oneida High School
Sevier County
Gatlinburg Pittman High
Unicoi County
Unicoi County High School
Union County
Union County High School
Washington County
University School
“Tennessee continues to be the number one state in the nation in the number of high school seniors that complete the FAFSA. We applaud and celebrate each of these high schools for their leadership and success,” said Dr. Steven Gentile, THEC Executive Director.
Gentile said that despite challenges encountered by students, parents, and school counselors with the delayed federal roll-out of a new FAFSA this year, Tennessee virtually matched last year’s FAFSA completion results. The state’s overall FAFSA completion rate among Tennessee Promise applicants in the Class of 2024 is 73.9%, compared to 74.1% last year. Moreover, the state reduced the gap between FAFSA submissions and completions to just 4.1% for the Class of 2024, down from 12.5% last year.
“This year’s success did not happen by accident. It came from the hard work and dedication of thousands of high school counselors and educators, financial aid advisors at our colleges and universities, and our many community, state, and nonprofit partners all coming together to support Tennessee families and to help ensure every student has the opportunity to continue their education beyond high school.”
Research shows that students who complete the FAFSA are far more likely to enroll in higher education or technical training after high school. The FAFSA opens the door to state and federal scholarships, grants, and other forms of financial aid that can kick-start college and career success.
To assist in navigating the FAFSA process, THEC and TSAC have curated a number of resources for students and schools at CollegeforTN.org to support Tennessee’s FAFSA completion efforts. Student resources include step-by-step FAFSA-filing instructions and videos. School resources include guides focused on helping high schools strengthen their FAFSA completion and college-going numbers.
Federal officials have announced that the FAFSA for the Class of 2025 will open on December 1, 2024.
For a complete list of this year’s FAFSA Cha