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If you are or have a student looking to attend school during the 2026 - 2027 school year then it's time for them to fill out their FAFSA form on https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa. FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This form is what determines if you get federal student aid, federal student loans, Tennessee Promise, Tennessee Hope, TSAC, and so much more. If you are going to trade school, two-year college, or four-year college you must fill out the FAFSA for each year.

First the student goes and creates an account on https://studentaid.gov/ and they start the FAFSA. They then have to put their parent's email address in and their parent needs to go create an account and log in and agree that the government can pull their taxes. Once the parent and the student have completed their forms, the student will get the confirmation emails.

After it has been processed the student will get the "SAI" number. SAI stands for Student Aid Index, a number that colleges use to determine your eligibility for federal and institutional financial aid. (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), a lower SAI indicates higher financial need and thus potentially more aid, while a negative SAI or zero generally qualifies you for the maximum Pell Grant.

I'll explain more about SAI below, but first I wanted to mention the Tennessee Deadlines and why it matters to apply early.

State grant prior-year recipients must apply by March 2, 2026. All other awards are made to applicants with the most need. Awards are made until all funds are depleted. <--- That is why you want to apply as soon as you can.
For the Tennessee Promise, submit your application by March 2, 2026, midnight Central time (CT).

Let's talk about the SAI. The Student Aid Index (SAI) is a formula-based index number ranging from -1500 to 999,999. Where your SAI falls within the SAI range helps your school determine how much financial support you may need. 

A SAI of 0 or below generally means you're eligible for the maximum Pell Grant award, assuming you meet other eligibility requirements. A negative SAI indicates you have a higher financial need. For example, if you have an SAI of -1500, you’ll qualify for a maximum Pell Grant award, assuming you have not exhausted your lifetime amounts and meet all student eligibility requirements. Learn how the SAI is calculated.

Your SAI is not

  • a dollar amount of aid you’ll receive,
  • what your family is expected to provide, or
  • your final financial aid offer. 

Once you have completed the form (both student and parent), the student will need to follow these steps to find their SAI. (The parent will not have it on their view, only the student).

  1. Log in to StudentAid.gov using your account username and password.
  2. Select your processed FAFSA submission.
  3. Select “View FAFSA Submission Summary.”
  4. Select the “Eligibility Overview” tab.

There's loads of places to look around for help in how to fill it out, but it's just important that you do it each year. They say that some places award aid in order in which it was received, so if you are hopeful to quality for any extra help get to it sooner than later.

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The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s scholarship programs are designed to encourage and support outstanding students who work hard and have financial need. I'd expect that if you have a lot of volunteer experience, super grades, and are Pell-Eligible that you would have the best chance.
They have different scholarships that you should look at and see if you quality for any of them.

These are highly competitive, and you can review past winners' lists to see how many awards they typically give. I found the valedictorian from a local school was a semi-finalist last year, but I have never personally known a winner. However I have seen posts from them so if you're looking for insider thoughts, go google and read various websites or social media for those helping to apply. I like reading reddit threads on r/scholarships and search the one you are looking for information on.

Our Scholarships

When I looked it up, I found the eligibility requirements - To be considered for the scholarship, you must meet the following criteria: 

  • Be a high school senior graduating in the spring in the U.S. or a U.S. territory/military base.
  • Have a cumulative, unweighted GPA of at least 3.75.
  • Plan to enroll full-time in an accredited four-year college in the fall after graduation.
  • Demonstrate significant financial need, with a family annual adjusted gross income up to $95,000.
  • Submit standardized test scores (SAT, ACT, AP, or IB) with no minimum score required. 

Good luck if this sounds like you, be sure to write a compelling and interesting essay.

On their own website it says of the winners - 93% held leadership role in a club or activity, 3.98 average was the unweighted high school GPA, and 89% had civic or community service participation during high school.

Good luck!!!

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Did you know that if you drop below full time you can lose your Hope or Tennessee Promise Scholarship? Be sure to talk to financial aid and your advisor before making any changes.

Collegefortn.org has a list of FAQs that I talked about and you will want to look at those and then look at your specific school's website about scholarships.

You can lose scholarships for attending less than full time as well as failure to progress. There's a percentage of classes that you must pass so they feel you will graduate timely. Of course GPA requirements must be met as well. All in all many people keep their scholarships, but over 4 years many also lose them. I'd just hate for you to lose them for something you could have prevented.

Speak to your advisor AND financial aid before dropping a class with a "W" grade as well. You need to know how that impacts hours attended, hours passed, and your full time status. It's really a lot to read up on and you're likely busy with your classes, which is why I say to make an appointment and talk to someone at the school who knows the rules for your specific situation.

Check out TN.gov to see more and click around on what the First-Time HOPE scholarship recipient renewal and retention progression looks like. There are so many pages of documents that tell how many they give out, how much, to which colleges and universities, and so much more. It's a lot of information, but good to know about.

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There are so many places around campus to meet people. However, it doesn't always happen as quickly as you'd like. Be sure to get out there and talk to people, see if there are others looking for someone to eat dinner with, or just invite someone who you see sitting alone to join you. Speak to your RA, go to the lobby, go early to class and talk to people in there, join a club, check out the religious or social organizations, go to the gym, just don't sit there sad. You can do it, but you're not alone. Others are also out of their comfort zone and in a few weeks it'll start feeling more comfortable.

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Hello everyone, this is a reminder that I posted about this at the end of August, but it's HERE!! Most people need a few reminders so this is it...share with your class of 2026 groups. It stinks to have to pay for it when it could have been free.

  • The school / The info
  • Austin Peay / "APAPPLY" Sept 1-30
  • Belmont University / "TNWEEK26" Sept 15-19
  • ETSU / "TNFreeApp26" Sept 1-30
  • MTSU / No code needed Sept 15-21
  • TSU / No code needed Sept 1-30
  • TN Tech / No code needed Sept 15-19
  • U of Memphis / No code needed Sept 1-30
  • UT Chattanooga / "FREEAPP26" Sept 15-19
  • UT Knoxville / No code needed Sept 17
  • UT Martin / No code needed Sept - 15-19
  • UT Southern / No application fee
  • Plus check the site for more! Collegefortn.org

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The Gates Scholarship Program is for low-income, high-achieving students. The deadline to apply is September 15th. https://www.thegatesscholarship.org/

The Gates Scholarship (TGS) is a highly selective, last-dollar scholarship for outstanding high school seniors from low-income households. Each year, the scholarship is awarded to exceptional student leaders, with the intent of helping them realize their maximum potential.
This year they took out the requirement of being a minority, but you still must be pell-eligible. What that means is your income must be low when you fill out the FAFSA you need to be able to quality for the Pell Grant. You may want to look up what that income looks like for your area, but this chart on the Federal Student Aid Partners should give you an idea.



I did find a great Reddit Thread from a previous winner where you can read comments and ask anything, but there are other sites around just google and look and see what other advise you can find.

The timeline for the Gates Scholarship is shown below - apply by Sept 15th!

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From their website - An ideal candidate will have:

Exceptional personal success skills (e.g., emotional maturity, motivation, perseverance, etc.)

An outstanding academic record in high school (in the top 10% of his/her graduating class)

Demonstrated leadership ability (e.g., as shown through participation in community service, extracurricular, or other activities)

Good luck!!!

The Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship is for high school seniors who are U.S. citizens. It is both a regional and a national scholarship with the same application! The 2026 MVS application closes on November 12, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

Go check out the application and read more about it. It will send you to this ISTS page to apply. You will need to create an account, be sure it's an email you will check as that's how they notify the finalists and winners (through email). I suggest you making a new email address that sounds professional for your applications just so it looks more professional.

This application has an essay, requires a high school counselor report, a resume, and your grades list. It's lengthy but worth it! It's one of the first for seniors this year so go ahead and get everything together now so you have it for others as the year goes on.

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They have a list of previous years winners and you can go look at the lodge locator to find the closest lodge near you.

This is copied right from their site:

Eligibility:

Scholarships are available only to students who enroll in four-year undergraduate degree programs at accredited U.S. American colleges or universities.

Current high school seniors, or the equivalent, who are citizens of the United States are eligible to apply.

Applicants do not need to be related to a member of the Elks.

High school graduates are not eligible to apply.

Applicants must be citizens of the United States on the date their applications are submitted; permanent legal resident status does not qualify.

2026 Most Valuable Student Award Offers
500 Four-Year Awards for the
2026-27, 2027-28, 2028-29, 2029-30 Academic Years
Four-Year Total AwardNo. of AwardsTotal
First Place$30,00020$600,000
Runners Up$4,000480$1,920,000
Total:$2,520,000

Many local Lodges, districts and state Elks associations award their own scholarships through this program. These scholarships are not to be confused with the 500 Elks National Foundation Most Valuable Student Scholarships, but the application is the same.

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Each year, the month of September is Tennessee College Application & Exploration Month. If you are a senior in high school, go check out this year's list of free colleges to apply to in Tennessee. This list can save you hundreds of dollars, so if you're even considering any of these, be sure to apply while it's free.
At most schools, there's a fee to apply, which can impact some people's ability to apply to various schools and see what they receive in student aid offers.

Do it before the free window closes! I'll keep my eyes peeled for other states, but I know some others have a week or month like this as well.

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2025-2026 Dates

September 1-5 — Explore College & Career
September 8-12 — Prepare to Apply
September 15-19 — Apply
September 22-26 — I Applied, Now What?

The full PDF is here, but can change as schools are added as the month progresses.

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You need to get your balance owed down to $0 before you can confirm your classes. You can do that by paying, accepting your loans, accepting your scholarships, or making a payment plan. However, you must do these soon as you must confirm your classes by the deadline.

Oh and the packing bags that my students liked are these - https://amzn.to/46LBo7k

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2025 -2026 Women of Williamson Scholarship

Purpose:  To help a deserving female Williamson County student pursue undergraduate studies.

The Award: Up to two selected female students may receive a Scholarship (paid after the recipient satisfactorily completes her first semester and earns a passing grade) of up to $2,500 payable to the “School” in which they are enrolled.

https://womenofwilliamson.org/scholarship-info


Requirements:

· Be a female residing in Williamson County, Tennessee USA.

· Have completed at least one semester/quarter of college, other institution of higher learning, or technical/trade school (collectively “School”).

· Provide evidence of active enrollment at designated School to continue working toward a degree or technical certificate.

· Provide evidence of prior year cumulative Grade Point Average and/or passing grade.

· Have financial need.

· Submit application by August 31, 2025.

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