Dear Financial Aid Colleagues:

 

When Governor Bill Haslam released his proposed FY 13 budget to the General Assembly it he included an increase of $6.6 million for the Tennessee Student Assistance Award (TSAA).   This is more than double last year’s request.   $3.2 million is being recommended in the State’s core services budget and another $3.4 million is proposed in general appropriations.  If the additional grant funds are appropriated, over 3,000 additional students could be served for this upcoming fall semester.

 

Additionally, both the recommended appropriations are in the ‘recurring’ column rather than the ‘non-recurring’ or one-time column. Consequently, if the improvements are adopted, it increases the program’s annual base funding for future budget considerations.

 

In order to help ensure that these improvements are passed by the Tennessee General Assembly, we need our TSAA recipients to send a ‘thank you’ notes for the grant program to their elected officials.  Please do all you can to send your students to the Tennessee Student Aid Alliance website in order to send their notes of thanks electronically.  It’s a very easy process that will only take a few moments of their time but may result in millions added to the TSAA program.

 

Here’s the TN Student Aid Alliance link:  http://savestudentaid.tnsaa.org/5819/take-action-support-tennessee-students/

 

Or go to www.tnsaa.org and click on Action Center.

 

Please feel to contact me!

 

Claude

 

Dr. Claude Pressnell

President

Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association

1031 17th Avenue South

Nashville, Tennessee 37212

615-242-6400, ext. 201 direct voice line

615-242-8033 fax