Higher Education Assistance Program
July 31, 2019
For the past 29 years, students pursuing their higher education goals have had the financial backing of the Tennessee Farm Bureau and its service companies.
During the 2018-19 academic year, the popular benefit program distributed $548,022 to students attending nearly four dozen different universities, community colleges and technical schools. Since its inception in 1990, the Higher Education Financial Assistance Program has paid $7.42 million (adjusted for inflation) in tuition assistance to full-time employees and/or their dependents through age 23.
The traditional aim of the Higher Education Financial Assistance Program has been to pay for approximately 50 percent of tuition for eligible employees and their dependents. Support at private institutions is the same as at UT-Knoxville, the state’s most expensive public university. In the case of state community colleges, which students may now attend tuition-free, the 50 percent allocation assists with books, fees and related expenses.
For the 2019-20 school year, the program will provide:
up to $2,835 per semester for full-time students at UT-Knoxville or a qualifying private institution,
up to $2,016 per semester at other four-year state institutions,
up to $1,008 per semester at two-year schools, and
up to $1,843.50 annually at vocational-technical schools.
“It is gratifying to witness the positive effect the higher education benefit has on our employees and their families,” said Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee CEO and program committee chairman Jeff Pannell. “This program also provides direct returns to our companies as we seek to attract and retain the skilled professionals we need to maintain our competitive position.”