Tennessee Tech experiencing an increase in student applications, thanks to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission waiving college application fees this month.
Director of Admissions Jacob Cutshall said Tech has already received more than 6,500 applications during the free period. Cutshall said that makes up about 55 percent of the total applications. It is an increase compared to years past.
“It’s been a great time to see these numbers kind of rise and see the bulk of our applications prior to October 1,” Cutshall said. “So it’s definitely been a great start to the year, and you know, we see some trickle in afterwards, but again it’s great to see so many students take advantage of that free application time.”
Cutshall said the university tries to do multiple free application windows to help potential students. Cutshall said Tech appreciates the free application month, as the additional free application week allows Tennessee Tech to connect with interested students.
“One of the reasons we made that change was, we got a lot of students who had applied who never were really truly interested in coming to Tennessee Tech,” Cutshall said. “And one thing that we’ve noticed during this, only doing one week, is seeing more students that are truly taking advantage of that time in that week. You know, by giving them one week, the ones who are interested will make the time to do it.”
Cutshall said having the free application month in September encourages families to start preparing for college early. Cutshall said being prepared early can help with scholarship opportunities.
“For a lot of your Tennessee public colleges, they have scholarship deadlines,” Cutshall said. “So our scholarship deadline is December 15, and as a part of that, we need our students to be admitted or applied, accepted, and then have their scholarship applications in. You know, high school goes by quick, especially your senior year flies by.”
Cutshall said the free application period incentivizes students to apply who may be on the fence about going to college. THEC is also encouraging high school seniors to apply for the Tennessee Promise Scholarship in September.
