THE PROMISE OF AN EDUCATION
Gov. Haslam greets inaugural class at Southwest
Gov. Bill Haslam speaks at Southwest about TNPromise college plan.
Malik Webber is used to finding himself on a football field this time of the year.
After graduating from Raleigh-Egypt High School, the 18-year-old former athlete traded in his cleats and pigskin for a polo shirt and binders as he attends Southwest Tennessee Community College — but he doesn’t expect to be off the field for long.
“I want to help professional players, when they get injured, to get back in shape,” he said.
Webber, who is studying physical therapy, is one of 1,348 students in the first incoming class of the Tennessee Promise program attending the community college this fall.
Webber said the program, which provides two years tuition-free at community colleges and Tennessee colleges of applied technology in exchange for community service, was a major factor in his ability to enroll in classes this fall.
Gov. Bill Haslam, along with other legislative leaders, welcomed Webber and other classmates to campus Aug. 26, their second day of school, and spoke about the program’s goals and its popularity. Haslam proposed Tennessee Promise last year.
As of the beginning of August, 22,534 students had qualified for Tennessee Promise statewide. Of those, 2,512 were from Shelby County, the largest number from a single county. But Haslam noted that enrollment in the program is only the first step.
“Access is wonderful, but success is what we’re about,” he said.
Haslam proposed Tennessee Promise as part of his “Drive to 55” initiative, whose goal is to increase the share of Tennessee residents with at least a two-year degree or vocational certificate to 55 percent by 2025. It’s currently 32 percent.
Haslam said the program’s mentoring component should help graduation rates, which at Southwest last year were as low as 6 percent for students who enrolled in 2010.
Southwest President Tracy Hall also said the mentoring is “critical.”
“Students don’t feel isolated because they have someone they can call on,” she said.
Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dorsey Hopson, who attended the event at Southwest’s Macon Cove campus, said one of the core goals of SCS is to make every student ready for college and a career.
He said the district pushed the Tennessee Promise opportunity to students last year, and plans to have counselors available to help students navigate the application process. Students have to exhaust other federal and state grants before Tennessee Promise provides them with a “last-dollar” scholarship, the amount needed to cover leftover tuition and fees.
“We have an obligation and a strategy in the school district to support our students, particularly our first-generation college students, to make sure they actually enroll,” Hopson said.
Hopson said he would like to see 100 percent of SCS students sign up for the program.
“There’s no reason why people shouldn’t take advantage of the chance to have free post-secondary education,” he said.