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Abstract
The Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship program began awarding merit-aid funds in the Fall of 2004. The impact of the program on access to higher education in the state was assessed in this study. The focus was on those groups that were underrepresented in Tennessee's higher education marketplace—minority, low socio-economic, and rural county students. The population for the assessment was the Fall 2004, Fall 2005, Fall 2006 recipients of TELS awards. The data, which included demographic information, award types, and information on retention, was analyzed. The preliminary assessment determined that the program had had an affect on black and Hispanic student enrollment. There was not a significant effect on enrollment of students from low socio-economic groups and only three of the states' forty-nine rural counties experienced a statistically significant increase in enrollment. Award and retention rates among minority students were low, especially for those minority students from low socio-economic groups.
