TICUA’s 49^th Annual Meeting Successful

This week member institutions gathered in Nashville for TICUA’s 49^th Annual Meeting to focus on student financial aid.  Presidents and other campus officers heard from higher education finance scholars Dr. Don Heller, Pennsylvania State University and Dr. Will Doyle, Vanderbilt University.  Both presenters gave a “first-look” at the impact of the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) programs.  Overall, they feel as if the structure of the program is currently one of the best in the United States, largely due to the need-based component.  Both scholars warned of adding to quickly to the program or diverting the funds to other programs during the first years of implementation.

TICUA hosted the traditional Legislative Reception during the final hours of the Annual Meeting.  Over 60 Legislators and their staff joined TICUA member presidents to discuss issues related to TELS, Contract Education, and the Tennessee Student Assistance Award.

Thank you to everyone who attended our meeting events!

TICUA Testifies Before TN House Education Committee

TICUA President Dr. Claude Pressnell testified before the Tennessee House Education Committee this past Wednesday.  During his testimony Pressnell urged members to increase the Tennessee Student Assistance Award (TSAA), by $25 million.  TSAA serves as the State’s foundational need-based aid program.

“Based on the Governor’s budget proposal over 31,000 eligible Tennesseans will go without state support to pay for college,” Pressnell testified.  “The proposed $25 million improvement would fund 13,400 of those students and would allow the application deadline to be restored to May 1, 2005.  As it presently stands, low-income students who apply after late March will most likely not receive support from the program.

Pressnell went on to note that President Bush’s plan to eliminate the LEAP and SLEAP programs would result in a net reduction of 5% of the State’s need-based aid program.  LEAP and SLEAP serve as federal matching funds for the TSAA.  The House committee took action by agreeing to send a resolution to Congress asking them to fund these critical matching programs. 

TICUA Presidents Discuss THEC Master Plan

TICUA Presidents met with staff of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to discuss the upcoming 2005 – 2010 Master Plan for Tennessee Higher Education.  The first policy objective of the plan is to fully fund the TSAA and a closely related objective focuses on “protecting” the purchasing power of the TELS.  These two objectives taken together are designed to increase affordability for eligible Tennesseans while also maximizing the capacity of TICUA member institutions.

TICUA’s Case Statement Released

“Private Colleges Serving Tennessee” is the title of TICUA’s newest case statement publication.  Some of the highlights include a record enrollment of 60,966; a collective economic impact of over $6 billion; over 45,000 jobs directly and indirectly provided by TICUA member colleges and universities; 13,449 degrees awarded in 2003-2004 (more than the University of Tennessee system or the four year Tennessee Board of Regents campuses.) 

For more copies contact Joan Chappell