ETSU students who graduated high school in 2003 or since can now apply for the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship Program.
If an applicant is accepted for TELS they could receive up to $4,000 in aid in addition to any other scholarships they may have for higher education.
The base amount awarded called the HOPE scholarship provides $3,000 for each academic year. After that the General Assembly Merit Scholarship could be awarded if the student is eligible, which provides $1,000 for each academic year.
To get the HOPE award students must have scored at least a 19 on their ACT (or an 890 on the SAT) or received a 3.0 GPA upon graduating high school. They must also have successfully completed the courses required in high school for the college or university track.
Scholarship money is also available for students who took the technical path.
The Wilder-Naifeh Technical Skills Grant also comes from lottery money and provides $1,250 each year. That is not available at ETSU. And if a student decides to leave the university to go to a technical school after having received the HOPE scholarship, they will not receive the Tech Skills Grant.
Once a student has been approved for the HOPE scholarship they can receive GAMS money if they scored a 29 on the ACT (or 1280 on the SAT). They also must have maintained a 3.75 GPA in high school and completed all the college track high school courses. In order to keep GAMS money students must maintain a 3.75 while in college.
Also, if a student meets all the requirements for the HOPE scholarship but not the GAMS $1,000 supplement, they could receive the extra $1,000 through the Need Based Supplemental Award if their or their parents’, depending on whether they are classified as dependent or independent, adjusted gross income on the FAFSA is $36,000 or less.
If a student does not meet any of these requirements they can still receive money. An award of $2,000 will go to eligible students who scored 18 on the ACT (860 on the SAT), completed the high school university track requirements with a 2.75 and their adjusted gross income is $36,000 or less on the FAFSA. Currently enrolled freshmen that met only this requirement are not eligible.
Current students who want to receive TELS money for next year must have completed 24 credit hours, which can include developmental studies courses, with a minimum GPA of 2.75. Grades will not be rounded up.
There are many ways to lose eligibility for TELS and it is important that students understand what they need to do to keep it, said Kathy Feagins, scholarship director.
“Once you lose your eligibility you don’t ever get it back,” she said.
One decision current high school students must make is whether they want to go to college in the fall or wait a while. Their lottery money depends upon their decision, Feagins said.
“Basically, if you graduated high school in May or June you have to attend in the fall,” she said. “You can’t take a semester off.”
To even be considered for TELS students must fill out a FAFSA form by May 1 each year.
After that the student must meet the requirements mentioned above in addition to being classified as “in-state”, the student must have lived in the state for a year before applying for TELS and the student must have graduated from a high school or home school in Tennessee. Some high schools are ineligible; students should check with the scholarship office in the ARC on the second floor of the Culp Center for any questions regarding scholarship money.
The scholarships are awarded according to the order in which they were received until lottery money runs out. Feagins said, though, that the money from lottery ticket sales is strong and there should be plenty of scholarships. But still, students should not delay in applying.
“Always, always we say that the amount of scholarships depends upon the funding,” Feagins said. “So, if you get something from financial aid you should open it immediately and do whatever it tells you to do. We’ve already received three times the number of FAFSA forms.”
Students who receive TELS must maintain a 2.75 GPA for the first 24 attempted credit hours. After that students are evaluated every 24 hours each year and must maintain a 3.0 GPA.
Provided that students are able to maintain the requirements for TELS, they receive it until they earn a baccalaureate degree, they complete a total of 120 credit hours or five years pass since they first began college, anywhere.
Something that is different when calculating GPAs in determining lottery scholarships is that repeated courses are counted as attempted hours and all grades are used to figure up GPAs, Feagins said.
“If you take English 1010 in the fall and make an F and then take English 1010 in the spring and make an A it counts as a 4.0, but in determining a lottery scholarship it’s a 2.5 because both the F and the A are counted,” Feagins said.
Feagins said that she believes TELS will help students financially.
“We hope that the lottery scholarship is going to keep our students from taking out so many loans,” she said.
However, there are a lot of ways to lose eligibility for the scholarship and if a student loses the scholarship mid-semester for any reason he or she must pay it all back.
“Students are going to have to be real careful about changing their major and taking unnecessary classes,” Feagins said. “In some ways it’s not very forgiving.”
To apply for Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship, pick up a FAFSA form at the ETSU Financial Aid Office in room 105 Burgin E. Dossett Hall or go online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

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