If you think you'd be able to help a high schooler transition to college, the state of Tennessee wants your help.
tnAchieves, the partnering organization for Governor Bill Haslam’s TN Promise, needs 9,000 volunteers to serve as mentors for its next class of TN Promise applicants.
With only four days remaining until the application deadline, tnAchieves still needs nearly 1,400 mentors across the state. Many counties in East Tennessee have mentor needs to meet local student demand:
- Anderson County: 29
- Blount County: 40
- Campbell County: 14
- Cocke County: 19
- Grainger County: 5
- Loudon County: 18
- Monroe County: 25
- Scott County: 14
- Sevier County: 32
- Union County: 7
The mentoring program requires a one-hour per month commitment following a mandatory training and background check as mentors work in-person or online with a small group of three to seven students.
TN Promise offers every high school senior the opportunity to attend one of the state’s 13 community colleges or 27 colleges of applied technology tuition-free.
Most of the students participating in the program are first-generation college attendees who find navigating the admissions and financial aid processes overwhelming.
“While TN Promise funding is important, our mentors represent the heart of our program,” said tnAchieves Executive Director Krissy DeAlejandro. “Providing a complete wraparound support system for our students, both financially and emotionally, is the key to their success. It is also part of the broader culture change that we are working on in Tennessee.”
In the first three years of the program, nearly 180,000 students have applied.
In the first year, 16,291 students began college TN Promise eligible.
The state’s college-going rate increased 4.6 percent, more than the previous seven years combined.
To learn more about the tnAchieves mentor program or to apply, visit www.tnachieves.org. You can also contact Graham Thomas at (615) 604-1306 or graham@tnachieves.org.