SMYRNA, Tenn. — A plan to offer free tuition to all Tennessee high school graduates has some higher-education institutions looking to hire more faculty.
Gov. Bill Haslam announced the initiative as a way to help boost the number of Tennesseans with two- or four-year degrees to 55 percent, up from 33 percent now.
The Daily News Journal reports that Motlow State Community College plans an open house at its Smyrna campus Tuesday. The school is looking for instructors in almost 30 areas including math and music.
Across the state, about 56,000 of Tennessee’s roughly 62,000 high school seniors have applied for free tuition, but officials have said they don’t expect that many to participate in the program.
Cheryl Hyland, who directs Motlow’s Smyrna campus, says the school wants to be prepared.
“Because there is a series of steps involved, I don’t think anybody knows what that final number will be,” she said.
In Rutherford County, 2,523 seniors applied, which is more than twice the 1,204 that state officials originally predicted.
