Tennessee Helping Heroes Grant

The Helping Heroes Act of 2008, codified at 49-4-938, is Tennessee's own education grant for post-9/11 service, funded out of the net proceeds of the state lottery and run by the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. The gate is a medal rather than a rating or a length of service. The student must be "an honorably discharged veteran of the United States, or a former or current member of a reserve or Tennessee National Guard unit who was called into active military service of the United States" (TSAC's rule, chapter 1640-01-22: "Have received an honorable discharge or remain in good standing while serving in an active reserve unit"), a Tennessee resident, and have been awarded, on or after September 11, 2001, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, or the Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal, which TSAC's rules added under the statute's power to recognise other medals. A veteran of the era who deployed without one of those medals is outside the programme however long they served. The award is set by the general appropriations act under 4-51-111 rather than written into the statute. The rule awards $1,000 for a semester in which the student "successfully completes twelve (12) or more semester hours" and half, $500, for six to eleven; fewer than six draws nothing that semester, though the student may qualify again later. The State's College for TN page states the same amounts by enrolment. Eight semesters is the limit. Six to eleven completed hours count as half a semester, so a part-time student has up to sixteen part-load semesters. The grant ends when a baccalaureate degree is earned, and a student who already holds one cannot start. Enrolment must be in an eligible programme at an eligible two- or four-year Tennessee institution, and the recipient must keep satisfactory academic progress. Applying. Apply each academic year. College for TN gives the processing deadlines as "September 1 (or the following business day) for fall enrollment, March 1 (or the following business day) for spring, or May 1 (or the following business day) for summer enrollment", and asks for the DD-214 by mail to THEC, 312 Rosa Parks Boulevard, 9th Floor, Nashville, TN 37243, or by fax to (615) 741-6101. Older summaries give February 1 for spring. The other conditions come from 49-4-904, which governs the lottery programmes generally: not in default on a federal Title IV or Tennessee educational loan, not owing a refund of federal or state aid, in compliance with federal drug-free rules, and not incarcerated. Helping Heroes sits alongside the federal education benefits. A student using Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement can hold a Helping Heroes grant at the same time; the two are separate applications to different bodies.