Where the Candidates Stand on Higher Education and Job Training
Where does the next governor put the money: four-year degrees, the technical colleges, or both?
What the policy is
Tennessee pays for postsecondary education mainly through two lottery-funded programs. The HOPE Scholarship goes to students who clear a grade point average or test score bar and can be used at eligible in-state institutions. Tennessee Promise is a last-dollar scholarship covering tuition and mandatory fees left after other gift aid at the state’s community colleges and colleges of applied technology.
Last-dollar means Promise pays whatever is left after the federal Pell grant, HOPE, and the state student assistance award are applied, so its cost to the state moves with federal aid rather than with tuition alone.
The governor appoints members of the higher education commission and the governing boards, and proposes the operating and capital budgets for the public institutions and the technical colleges.
What it costs
- HOPE Scholarship
- 73.6% of the lottery education account
The scholarship accounted for 73.6 percent of the $427.1 million in Lottery for Education Account expenditures in fiscal year 2022-23.
Source: Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, Office of Research and Education Accountability
- Tennessee Promise
- $207 million since 2014
Since 2014, $207 million in funding has supported the enrollment of more than 150,000 students at the state’s community colleges and colleges of applied technology.
Source: State of Tennessee
No current-year HOPE award amount is listed. The published award schedule was not retrievable from an authoritative source while this page was written, so the per-student figure is omitted rather than carried forward from an older year.
What Tennesseans told the survey
What Tennesseans said about higher education
- 52%
- say students are not prepared for college or a well-paying job
- 67%
- say keep the Algebra II requirement rather than lower the academic bar
- 39%
- say they lack information about career paths
A majority has lost confidence in the graduation pipeline.
500 registered voters surveyed February 5-8, 2026, ±4.38% margin of error, 95% confidence. Tennessee Firefly is a product of Tennesseans for Student Success, which conducted this survey. We publish the findings in full and name them as the yardstick wherever we use them so readers can weigh the source along with the number.
Where the nominees stand
Marsha Blackburn
SupportsShe has a dedicated higher education and vocational training plank. It commits to public-private partnerships so institutions have facilities and resources, to working with legislators to strengthen the state 529 program, and to increasing vocational education on the argument that a four-year degree is not for everyone. It also conditions institutions on complying with federal executive orders barring federal funding for DEI programs.
“A four-year college degree isn’t for everyone, and improving vocational training will increase opportunities for all Tennesseans and help them find good-paying, meaningful work.”
Source: Marsha Blackburn for Governor, Improving higher education and vocational training · read 2026-08-08
Jerri Green
NuancedHer platform addresses what comes after high school through workforce development and vocational training, a public service year program for high school graduates, and waiving GED testing fees statewide. It does not address college affordability, tuition, or the lottery-funded HOPE and Tennessee Promise scholarships.
“Promote workforce development and vocational training”
Source: Jerri Green for Governor, Policy · read 2026-08-08
The 13 independents on the ballot
Independent candidates qualify by petition and never appear in a primary, so they arrive on the November ballot with no primary record behind them. Each is listed here whether or not a position exists.
Misam Abidi
Has not stated a positionMisam Abidi has not stated a position on higher education.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Misam Abidi: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Dean Brewer
Has not stated a positionDean Brewer has not stated a position on higher education.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Dean Brewer: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Ray Brown
Has not stated a positionRay Brown has not stated a position on higher education.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Ray Brown: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
David Hatley
SupportsHis announcement calls for trade education, apprenticeships and skills training so that students are not sent, in his words, into debt chasing a four-year degree.
“into debt chasing a four-year degree”
Source: Elizabethton Star, David Hatley enters Tennessee governor's race
Wendell Jackson
Has not stated a positionWendell Jackson has not stated a position on higher education.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Wendell Jackson: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Charles Van Morgan
Has not stated a positionCharles Van Morgan has not stated a position on higher education.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Charles Van Morgan: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Eddie Lee Murphy
Has not stated a positionEddie Lee Murphy has not stated a position on higher education.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Eddie Lee Murphy: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Lauren Pinkston
Has not stated a positionHer published material addresses K-12 schools. It does not address college affordability, the lottery-funded scholarships, or the technical colleges.
Source: Pinkston campaign, Lauren Pinkston for Tennessee Governor
Victor L. Scoggin
Has not stated a positionHis platform mentions state-funded colleges only in the context of the ideological balance of their faculty. It takes no position on cost, access or the technical colleges.
Source: Scoggin campaign, Capt Vic Scoggin for Tennessee Governor
Dave Seeman
SupportsHis platform routes job training through the community colleges, pledging that Tennessee workers get trained for jobs that pay through partnerships between employers and community colleges, alongside small business development in rural counties. His other education commitments are K-12 and early childhood, including covering childcare costs for families earning up to $99,000. He does not address college cost or the lottery-funded scholarships.
“Tennessee workers get trained for jobs that pay, through partnerships between employers and community colleges”
Source: Seeman campaign, The Platform: Dave Seeman for Governor
Karl Knox Smithson
Has not stated a positionKarl Knox Smithson has not stated a position on higher education.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Karl Knox Smithson: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
L. Webb Taylor
Has not stated a positionL. Webb Taylor has not stated a position on higher education.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, L. Webb Taylor: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Robert C. Vick
SupportsHe spent a career in Tennessee public schools, and his Rural Readiness initiative would realign high school curricula with the needs of local industry to create pathways into higher-paying work in rural counties. His announcement pairs that with expanded rural healthcare access and debt-free principles for state budgeting.
Source: Claiborne Progress, 40-Year East Tennessee Educator Dr. Vick Announces Independent Run for Governor
15 candidates on the certified November ballot · 5 with a stated position on this issue · 10 with none on the record
Sources
- Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, Office of Research and Education Accountability, Overview of the HOPE Scholarship in Tennessee (read 2026-08-08)
- State of Tennessee, Tennessee Promise (read 2026-08-08)
- Marsha Blackburn for Governor, Improving higher education and vocational training (read 2026-08-08)
- Jerri Green for Governor, Policy (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Misam Abidi: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Dean Brewer: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Ray Brown: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Elizabethton Star, David Hatley enters Tennessee governor's race
- Tennessee Firefly, Wendell Jackson: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Charles Van Morgan: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Eddie Lee Murphy: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Pinkston campaign, Lauren Pinkston for Tennessee Governor
- Scoggin campaign, Capt Vic Scoggin for Tennessee Governor
- Seeman campaign, The Platform: Dave Seeman for Governor
- Tennessee Firefly, Karl Knox Smithson: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, L. Webb Taylor: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Claiborne Progress, 40-Year East Tennessee Educator Dr. Vick Announces Independent Run for Governor
- Tennesseans for Student Success, TSS Statewide Survey, February 2026
Positions are stated in each candidate’s own framing. Where a candidate has not addressed an issue, the page says so and names the material that was reviewed to reach that conclusion. We do not score or grade candidates: the survey is the yardstick, and the comparison is the reader’s to make.
The other education issues
Does the Education Freedom Scholarship grow, hold at 20,000 students, or end?
Does the next governor raise the TISA formula, change what it weights, or hold it where it is?
Do annual testing and the A-F school grades stay as they are, get reweighted, or get rolled back?
What happens to teacher pay after the statutory minimum reaches $50,000 in 2026-27?
Explore the Tracker
About this tracker
This tracker is produced by The Tennessee Firefly, an independent, nonpartisan news outlet covering education and government in Tennessee. We don't endorse candidates. We don't take political ads. We follow the money, the policy, and the people who shape your kids' schools. All data comes from official filings, verified reporting, and on-the-record sources, with freshness timestamps visible on every page that surfaces live data.