Building Gateways Through Admissions Redesign: Spotlight on Tennessee

Brett Gipson: This story starts 10 years ago, when we introduced Tennessee Promise. At the time, we recognized an opportunity to pair the promise of free community college with the promise of admission. But the timing just wasn’t quite right. Over the years, the impact of Tennessee Promise has created a culture of collaboration statewide; THEC works closely with counselors and community-based organizations to increase Tennessee Promise application and FAFSA completion rates. Today, we’re proud to offer the highest per-student state financial aid in the country, and to report the highest FAFSA completion rates. So, when Dr. Taylor Odle approached us about the opportunity to introduce direct admissions in Tennessee as an experiment… the timing was exactly right. 

Troy Grant: As Brett is alluding to, there are certain elements of Tennessee’s unique infrastructure that made this possible. But what allowed us to make this a reality comes down to our cross-cutting approach to partnerships and collaboration. It’s something that THEC has become especially good at over the years: Defining a specific, shared goal, and then aligning various partners to leverage their own strengths in service of that goal. That’s what’s really exciting about this – direct admissions is a big deal, and we can’t wait to investigate its impact. But we also know that, with the culture we’ve built, this is just one of many big moves to come.

Brett Gipson: There are some bright and shiny elements of this project that are certainly helpful – its experimental nature; the support from the Governor. But really, our institutions have all been willing to step out on a limb with us. They’ve all agreed to try something new, something hard, something that we know will be disruptive. It’s been so gratifying to work closely with so many willing partners. 

Troy Grant: We know that this process is going to challenge us. But ultimately, this is the topic of the day. There is so much conversation around direct admissions. This project offers an opportunity for all of our institutions to keep up with modern expectations of higher education. No one wants to miss the boat. 

Troy Grant: Higher ed leaders need to remember that some of their greatest ideas require implementation in the high school setting to really take flight. THEC has done an amazing job of building out a strong network within the K-12 sector. When FAFSA filing season rolls around, they have the ability to send email updates to more than 1,000 school leaders, providing them with data updates and cultivating a healthy sense of competition. Involving principals – in addition to counselors and educators – ensures that your projects are elevated into school-level priorities. 

Brett Gipson: I consider THEC’s financial aid outreach team to be Tennessee’s first college access program. That team has been building relationships with school counselors for more than twenty years now. So, we have that foundational layer of trust to rely on. When we introduce new projects, folks trust that we will support them through implementation. And this extends beyond the confines of the school building; we have those relationships with community-based advising organizations as well.

Brett Gipson: Two things come to mind. First, the timing of the letters. We know that our Tennessee Promise application is the right mechanism for data collection, but, this year, it means that direct admissions letters will not go out until November. We believe we have the capability to expedite this next year. Second, the Holy Grail is integrating financial aid offers into the direct admissions notifications. We’re testing the waters this year, but we know that there is a lot more specificity that we can ultimately provide to students to help them make informed decisions. 

Troy Grant: One additional challenge we’re anticipating will come on the back-end of data collection. When students accept their direct admission offers, colleges will then require different things on the receiving end. The challenge is to collect all of the data points that all of our institutions need, without making students feel as though they are navigating through a series of redundant processes. But I see a silver lining here – if this experiment can shine a light on outdated data processes and requirements, we’ll have an opportunity to modernize.

Troy Grant: Of course, the ultimate hope is that we see evidence of moving the needle for students in Tennessee. But I hope that the impact extends far beyond high school seniors. Related to the point made earlier about modernizing outdated processes – I hope that we learn things through this process about refining the mechanisms that all students are coming in contact with, whether they are first-time freshmen or not. Our learnings from this project have the potential to spur new institutional neuro-pathways in data stewardship, communications, and more. 

Brett Gipson: My initial reaction to this question was the same as Troy’s but framed a little differently: I hope that we break some things. We’re going to apply pressure to our processes for collecting, storing, and sharing data – processes that are long past due for a re-build. And this re-build is going to happen within the context of an ultra-collaborative culture that we’ve now habitualized. I see this project as an opportunity to change some things that have been on our wish list for a long time.