The mission of tnAchieves is to enhance post-secondary opportunities and outcomes by providing holistic student supports rooted in community and accountability.

What is tnAchieves?

tnAchieves is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing an opportunity for every Tennessee student to obtain a post-secondary credential. As the partnering organization to the TN Promise scholarship serving 90 percent of Tennessee’s high school seniors, tnAchieves helps ensure students meet college enrollment requirements and proactively supports them through earning a college credential. tnAchieves began in 2008 as knoxAchieves with the mission of providing students with last-dollar scholarships supported by mentor guidance. Since then, tnAchieves has grown to become a nationally recognized leader in college access and success by providing holistic student supports rooted in community and accountability.

SCOPE

tnAchieves Serves…

Holistic Student

Supports

Students First, Always., a key tnAchieves value, defines our programs and innovation. tnAchieves has developed wraparound student supports designed to ensure successful post-secondary enrollment and completion for all students.

COMPLETE coaches offer proactive college coaching for 9,000+ students annually who represent historically underrepresented, first-generation or economically disadvantaged student populations. Coaches connect with students virtually and in person on college campuses to build trusted relationships. In addition to proactive coaching, students have access to COMPLETE grants designed to ensure unexpected financial hurdles are not barriers to college success. Since launching COMPLETE grants statewide in 2022, tnAchieves has disbursed 40,000+ grants totaling more than $5M. These high-impact supports are having a dramatic impact on student outcomes:

Rooted In

Community

Community partners ensure that the tnAchieves goal of “serving students at scale” is realistic and attainable. Our network of advocates represents business and industry as well as local school systems and post-secondary institutions.

We are grateful to partner with Tennessee high schools, particularly our school counselors, to ensure all students understand the amazing post-secondary pathways created by the TN Promise scholarship.

We are honored to work alongside our post-secondary partners to ensure that once students land on their campuses in the fall, they are on track to earn a college credential that will guide them to a viable career.

We value our volunteer mentors, who Stand With Students to ensure they are supported and encouraged into post-secondary. We are proud that our volunteer mentor retention is 72 percent – well above national volunteer trends. tnAchieves believes that cultivating meaningful partnerships establishes student-focused advocates across the state who transform communities.

Become part of Team tnAchieves

Practicing

Accountability

The thread binding our community-rooted, holistic student supports is accountability. tnAchieves is committed to using data as a tool to build, inform and execute efficient and effective programs. Through data partnerships across the state, we measure, adjust and rely on the magic that happens when student voice is coupled with data. tnAchieves commits to being transparent with our approach and our results. We believe we are accountable to our stakeholders and partners across the state, including our students, families, mentors, community partners, educational partners, donors and ourselves.

PREPARED - 2024 Annual Report

Download County-Specific Data Updates

External Evaluation

Going Beyond Free College: Initial Findings on College Success with Supplemental Coaching and Grants

Boyd Center - University of Tennessee
Author(s): Celeste Carruthers, Emily Pratt Publication Date: February 14, 2024

Read Report
Implementation and Impact of tnAchieves Coaching in Tennessee Community Colleges

Tennessee Education Research Alliance - Vanderbilt University
Author(s): James Guthrie, Shelby Shumard Publication Date: March 2024

Read Report
Knox Promise: College Persistence and Completion for the First Three Cohorts

Boyd Center - University of Tennessee
Author(s): Celeste Carruthers, Emily Pratt Publication Date: October 27, 2023

Read Report
Examining the Impact, Implementation, and Cost Effectiveness of Completion Coaching in a Statewide College Promise Program

Research For Action
Author(s): Dae Y. Kim, Karin Gegenheimer Publication Date: September 30, 2023

Read Report

Board of Directors

Randy Boyd

The Chairman, president of the University of Tennessee System and founder of Radio Systems Corporation. He received a degree from the University of Tennessee in 1979 and a master's degree from Oklahoma University in 1988. Randy was a first-generation college student.
Bill Haslam

49th Governor of Tennessee. Before being elected governor, he served as the President of Pilot Corporation and the Mayor of Knoxville. He also served on the tnAchieves Board of Directors when the program launched in 2008. Governor Haslam holds a bachelor’s degree from Emory University.
Linda Martin

Interim Chancellor at The University of Tennessee - Southern. Before joining the University, Linda served as the director of the second-year transformational experience program at The Ohio State University. Linda earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State, a master’s degree from Virginia Tech and a doctorate from Colorado State University—all in animal science.
Mike Ragsdale

Elected to serve as Knox County Mayor in 2002 and again in 2006. The first in his family to attend college, he completed a doctorate in education at the University of Tennessee where he also received the Torchbearer Award as an undergraduate student.
Tim Williams

Co-founder and CEO of 21st Mortgage Corporation. 21st Mortgage is the highest volume lender in the manufactured home industry. In 2003, 21st Mortgage was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway Company. Tim holds a BS and MBA from the University of Tennessee.