AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to higher education.
Summary
HB1147 amends Tennessee’s higher education law to require the administering corporation for a scholarship program under Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-4-704, to file an annual report with the House and Senate education committees. The report must cover each of the five immediately preceding academic years for which scholarships were awarded and must include the amount appropriated by the General Assembly for the program, the number of scholarship applications received, the number of scholarship recipients, and the average scholarship award amount.
The reporting requirement begins July 31, 2025, and continues every July 31 thereafter. The bill does not change scholarship eligibility, award formulas, or funding levels directly; instead, it adds a transparency and oversight mechanism so lawmakers can track demand for the program, how many students are served, and how state appropriations compare to awards over time.
Impact
The bill adds a new subsection to Tennessee Code Annotated § 49-4-704, creating a recurring statutory reporting duty for the corporation that administers the scholarship program. Its practical effect is to give the General Assembly regular data on appropriations, applications, recipients, and average award amounts, which may inform future budgeting, policy review, and oversight of postsecondary scholarship programs. It does not itself appropriate funds or alter student benefits, but it increases administrative reporting obligations for the program administrator and strengthens legislative monitoring of higher education aid.
Sentiment
The available committee votes suggest broad, noncontroversial support for the bill. It received unanimous favorable recommendations in both the House Higher Education Subcommittee and the House Education Committee, indicating general agreement that the reporting requirement is useful and appropriate. No committee transcript objections are available, and the bill appears to have been treated as a straightforward oversight measure rather than a contested policy change.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive contention in the available record. Because the bill only requires annual reporting, the likely areas of interest are administrative burden on the scholarship corporation and whether the requested data are sufficient for legislative oversight, but no recorded opposition or debate is provided. The unanimous committee votes indicate that any concerns were either minimal or resolved before the votes.