The Tennessee Higher Education Commission and the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation awarded the designation of FAFSA Champion to Warren County High School.

THEC has recognized Warren County High School as the “Most Improved Large School” in the state for Tennessee Promise FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid completion for the class of 2024. WCHS has not only been recognized for having a 91.6% FAFSA completion but also for having a 20.5% increase in FAFSA completion rates since last year.

Dr. Steven Gentile, THEC Executive Director, stated Tennessee is one of the top states in FAFSA completion and congratulated school leadership for their hard work. 

“Tennessee continues to be the number one state in the nation in the number of high school seniors that complete the FAFSA,” Gentile said “We applaud and celebrate each of these high schools for their leadership and success,” said Dr. Steven Gentile, THEC Executive Director.”

Gentile said Tennessee overcame obstacles to match last year’s FAFSA completion rates. 

“Despite challenges encountered by students, parents and school counselors with the delayed federal roll-out of a new FAFSA this year, Tennessee virtually matched last year’s FAFSA completion results,” Gentile said. “The state’s overall FAFSA completion rate among Tennessee Promise applicants in the Class of 2024 is 73.9%, compared to 74.1% last year. Moreover, the state reduced the gap between FAFSA submissions and completions to just 4.1% for the class of 2024, down from 12.5% last year.”

According to Gentile the high rate of FAFSA completion among Tennessee students is thanks to the hard work of high school counselors, educators, financial aid advisors at local colleges and other partners. 

“This year’s success did not happen by accident,” Gentile said. 

“It came from the hard work and dedication of thousands of high school counselors and educators, financial aid advisors at our colleges and universities, and our many community, state and nonprofit partners all coming together to support Tennessee families and to help ensure every student has the opportunity to continue their education beyond high school.” 

Warren County High School Executive Principal Chris Hobbs said he attributes the improvement of FAFSA completion at WCHS to the hard work of counselors with the Ayers Foundation Trust.

“The biggest reason Warren County High School saw such a tremendous increase in FAFSA completion this past school year, despite the numerous challenges the new FAFSA had, is due to the great work of the Ayers Foundation Trust counselors,” Hobbs said 

“With 2023-2024 being the first year in having Ayers Foundation Trust counselors embedded in the schools, the growth in several metrics increased, including Tennessee Promise applications, postsecondary applications, and of course, FAFSA completion. Along with FAFSA completion, another requirement to maintain Tennessee Promise eligibility is to complete 8 hours of community service. The class of 2024 completed over 2200 volunteer hours.”

Director of Schools Dr. Grant Swallows reinforced Hobb’s statement, and expanded on it, saying the improvement of FAFSA completion rates is also due to the hard work of students, staff and community partners.

“The collaboration between our school counseling team and the Ayers Foundation counselors has been instrumental in providing the resources and support our students need to navigate the college financial aid process,” Swallows said. “This recognition by THEC is a testament to the hard work and commitment of our students, staff and community partners.”

Federal officials have announced that the FAFSA for the Class of 2025 will open on Dec. 1, 2024.