Tennessee Senate Bill SB0689

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/31/25
• Engrossed: 3/17/25
• Enrolled: 4/10/25
• Passed: 4/23/25
• Chaptered: 4/29/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4 and Title 49, relative to education.

Summary

SB 689 restructures the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC) and related higher education governance beginning July 1, 2025. The bill makes TSAC a nonprofit corporation operating as a division within the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), and it transfers TSAC’s governing board functions to THEC. It also authorizes THEC to administer the student assistance programs covered by the chapter and to use appropriated or allocated funds for that administration. The bill also revises higher education planning and oversight by expanding and clarifying the review committee that helps develop or revise the state’s higher education master plan, state financial aid, and funding formula. The committee is directed to review funding formula components, identify needed changes, and ensure the formula aligns with the master plan’s goals. In addition, the bill terminates two teacher-loan programs on July 1, 2025—the Tennessee Teaching Scholars Program and the Minority Teaching Fellows Program—while preserving TSAC’s authority to administer remaining outstanding loans. A technical correction also updates a statutory cross-reference in the student assistance provisions. In practical terms, the bill shifts administrative and governance responsibilities within Tennessee’s higher education system, consolidating oversight under THEC and winding down certain legacy scholarship/loan programs for new participation. It affects TSAC, THEC, the Board of Regents, the University of Tennessee system, state finance officials, and private-college representatives who serve on the review committee. Existing borrowers in the terminated programs are not eliminated from repayment or administration; TSAC remains responsible for outstanding loan obligations. The overall sentiment appears strongly favorable and noncontroversial. The bill advanced with unanimous support in the Senate Education Committee and passed the Senate and House with large margins, including a unanimous House concurrence vote on the amendment. That voting pattern suggests broad agreement with the administrative restructuring and program terminations. No major points of contention are evident in the available record. The only likely policy sensitivity is the elimination of the Tennessee Teaching Scholars and Minority Teaching Fellows programs for future participants, but the bill preserves administration of existing loans, which likely reduced opposition. The inclusion of private higher education and state budget officials on the review committee also suggests an effort to balance stakeholder input rather than create a partisan or ideological dispute.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated Titles 4 and 49 to reorganize TSAC as a nonprofit corporation operating within THEC, transfer TSAC board authority to THEC effective July 1, 2025, and authorize THEC to administer specified student assistance programs. It also changes the composition and duties of the higher education review committee, and it terminates the Tennessee Teaching Scholars Program and Minority Teaching Fellows Program for new activity while preserving TSAC’s role in servicing outstanding loans. These changes affect state higher education governance, student aid administration, and related statutory references.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have received broad bipartisan and institutional support. It passed the Senate Education Committee unanimously, cleared floor votes by wide margins, and received unanimous concurrence on the House amendment. The vote pattern indicates general agreement with the restructuring of student aid administration and the phase-out of the two loan programs.

Contention

There is little evidence of significant contention in the available materials. The main substantive issue is the termination of the Tennessee Teaching Scholars Program and the Minority Teaching Fellows Program for future participants, which could concern stakeholders who value those pathways into teaching. However, the bill preserves administration of existing loans and passed overwhelmingly, suggesting any objections were limited or not politically decisive.