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2026 State of Education in Tennessee: Moving Every Student Forward

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Coaching and Completion Grants: Five Years of Evidence and Impact

April 9, 2026
Document titled "Coaching and Completion Grants: Five Years of Evidence and Impact" with executive summary discussing Tennessee program successes.

New evidence shows that access to postsecondary education alone is not enough — targeted coaching and just-in-time financial support help more students persist and complete postsecondary credentials. Over the past five years, Tennessee has paired tuition-free access through Tennessee Promise with proactive completion coaching and completion grants for students with the greatest financial need. This report brings together evidence from the tnAchieves COMPLETE program and Knox Promise pilot, showing that this combined approach strengthens persistence and improves outcomes for students across the state.

Many students — particularly those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds — face barriers that extend beyond tuition, including unexpected financial challenges, competing work and family responsibilities, and the cost of basic needs. To address these challenges, Tennessee introduced a model that pairs two complementary supports:

  • Proactive completion coaching to help students navigate college and stay on track
  • Just-in-time completion grants to address immediate financial barriers

Together, these supports create a more complete system that helps students persist and progress toward a credential.

Results from the tnAchieves COMPLETE program and Knox Promise pilot show this approach is particularly impactful for students with the greatest need and ensures that more Tennesseans stay enrolled and succeed in postsecondary education.