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No public colleges or universities in Tennessee will increase in-state tuition for undergraduates next year.

The statewide tuition freeze was formalized Thursday by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC).

Why it matters: Inflation is pinching wallets across the nation, and college enrollment is sagging. Officials hope keeping tuition rates stable here will make higher education more affordable for Tennessee families.

What they're saying: "Students are already facing higher prices for housing, groceries, and gas," THEC chair Evan Cope said in a statement.

"Thanks to a generous investment from the state and today's action from the commission, we're able to tell these students that they won't be paying higher prices for tuition."

Between the lines: THEC leaders said an influx of $90 million for the higher education funding formula in the new budget helped make the tuition freeze possible.

Tennessee public colleges freeze tuition

No public colleges or universities will increase tuition next year.

Illustration of a stack of frozen dollar bills with snowcaps.

College

No public colleges or universities in Tennessee will increase in-state tuition for undergraduates next year.<ul><li>The statewide tuition freeze was <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="formalized Thursday" data-vars-click-url="https://www.tn.gov/thec/news/2022/5/19/tennessee-higher-education-commission-votes-to-hold-tuition-flat-at-tennessee-public-institutions-in-2022-2023-academic-year.html" data-vars-content-id="0c031840-5bc9-45e0-a38d-7fc89bd74acc" data-vars-headline="Tennessee public colleges freeze tuition" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.tn.gov/thec/news/2022/5/19/tennessee-higher-education-commission-votes-to-hold-tuition-flat-at-tennessee-public-institutions-in-2022-2023-academic-year.html" target="_blank">formalized Thursday</a> by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC).</li></ul>

News

The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Gov. Bill Lee's school voucher program was in line with the state constitution.

The 3-2 decision overturns rulings from lower courts that blocked the program.

Why it matters: Lee's program would create education savings accounts, commonly called vouchers, that would allow eligible students to use public funding to attend private school.

Flashback: A bill authorizing vouchers in Tennessee's biggest cities narrowly passed the General Assembly in 2019, but the measure was mired in court challenges and controversy.

The high court's ruling is a significant victory as Lee nears the end of his first term.

Between the lines: The Supreme Court reheard the case after Justice Cornelia Clark died last year.

Court of Appeals Judge Thomas "Skip" Frierson, II, stepped in temporarily for the case. He joined Chief Justice Roger Page and Justice Jeff Bivins in the majority.

Justices Sharon Lee and Holly Kirby dissented.

The intrigue: The program was originally designed for students in a handful of counties, but lawmakers winnowed it down so that it applies only to the Nashville and Shelby County districts.

Those local governments sued, saying the state couldn't create such a program that applied only to them.

While some state courts agreed, the Supreme Court found the program's narrow design did not violate the state constitution.

What he's saying: Lee said the opinion "puts parents in Memphis and Nashville one step closer to finding the best educational fit for their children."

The other side: State Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) said the Home Rule Amendment to the constitution should bar the program.

"While the decision itself is bad, the worst result of the Tennessee Supreme Court's school vouchers decision will be the school vouchers," Yarbro tweeted.

"In state after state after state, vouchers lead to worse education outcomes."

What's next: Wednesday's ruling was in response to a specific constitutional question that arose during a broader lawsuit over the vouchers, so the ongoing lawsuit will continue in state trial court.

Lee's school voucher program gets TN Supreme Court win

Photo illustration of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee with lines radiating from him.

Photo illustration: Allie Carl/Axios. Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images

Tennessee

The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Gov. Bill Lee&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="school voucher program" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2021/10/11/public-education-funding-tennessee-bill-lee" data-vars-content-id="2d2bcbae-f987-411c-ba74-f9c8dc1de89d" data-vars-headline="Lee&#x27;s school voucher program gets TN Supreme Court win" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2021/10/11/public-education-funding-tennessee-bill-lee" target="_self">school voucher program</a> was in line with the state constitution.<ul><li>The 3-2 decision overturns rulings from lower courts that blocked the program.</li></ul>

Politics

Hundreds of defendants imprisoned under Tennessee's harsh drug-free school zone law are now eligible for a second chance at justice.

A new reform signed into law last month allows them to ask for resentencing. Cases are already working through the court system.

Why it matters: Tennessee's original drug-free school zone law allowed prosecutors to increase mandatory prison sentences for nonviolent drug crimes within 1,000 feet of schools or parks.

While the law was designed to protect children, in practice it resulted in especially long sentences for nonviolent drug crimes where children were not in danger.

In many cases, crimes took place in homes or when school was not in session.

Between the lines: The law disproportionately affected people living in dense neighborhoods near schools, largely low-income defendants and people of color.

Flashback: Lawmakers acknowledged the problem, passing a reform in 2020 to shrink the radius around schools to 500 feet and limiting the law to crimes in which children were actually in jeopardy.

But it didn't apply retroactively, leaving some 400 defendants in prison under an obsolete version of the law.

Gov. Bill Lee instituted an expedited clemency review for those defendants, but there was no legal remedy in court.

State of play: The new law, passed with broad bipartisan support, is allowing defendants, prosecutors and judges to revive those cases.

Judges have started resentencing some cases, which could lead to the release of nonviolent offenders who have been in prison years longer than if their cases were heard today.

Zoom out: Rep. Michael Curcio (R-Dickson), who sponsored the legislation, fought for years for a fix.

"There were times where we thought this issue was dead," Curcio, who is leaving the General Assembly this year, tells Axios. "It is very, very exciting to see the progress."

The bottom line: "This has been years in the making, and it's actually here now," attorney Daniel Horwitz tells Axios.

"This is a really, really important, meaningful reform that is going to help a lot of people and already is helping a lot of people."

Illustration of a gavel hitting the floor and generating ripples. 

For many, the reform has life-changing implications.

Jose Araguz was 13 years old when his father was arrested because police watched him drive through a school zone en route to a nighttime drug deal.

Nazario Araguz was sentenced to the mandatory minimum of 15 years under the terms of the school zone drug law, missing holidays, birthdays and ball games.

The latest: Defense attorney Ben Raybin and the Nashville DA's office agreed Araguz's case should be reconsidered. Last week, a judge granted a motion to resentence Araguz under the new version of the law.

After finding that Araguz would not have received the same lengthy sentence under current law, the judge issued a new sentence that now makes him eligible for parole and sentencing credits.

What we're watching: Raybin, who lobbied for school-zone reforms, believes Araguz could be released soon, based on his time served and credits.

The prospect of seeing his father outside of prison walls brought Jose, now 25, to tears.

What he's saying: "My dad, he's not a bad person," Jose tells Axios. "He's paid the price for the crime he committed."

"My dad has a lot of people out here who are waiting on him and hoping to see him someday. Before this law, there was nothing we could do."

Raybin says local cases are "moving forward very, very quickly." He credits DA Glenn Funk for embracing the issue and working alongside the defense.

"It's a very unusual circumstance," the defense attorney says of the broad agreement across the criminal justice system. "It is evidence of how completely unfair and unjust the law was to start with."

Zoom in: When Funk took office in 2014, he stopped using the school-zone law to amplify sentences in cases where children weren't endangered. He asked his conviction review unit (CRU) to prepare to revisit old cases.

Immediately after the bill took effect, CRU director Sunny Eaton started reaching out to the defense bar and filing requests for new sentences for defendants without representation.

What they're saying: "We have been compiling these for a long time just waiting for a legal mechanism to get into this," Eaton tells Axios.

"This is something we're all on the same page about."

The big picture: Matthew Charles, a policy associate for the advocacy group FAMM, tells Axios he hopes the rest of the state follows Nashville's example.

"I just want to see uniformity throughout the different counties as opposed to certain counties granting it and certain counties denying it," Charles says.

What's next: The Administrative Office of the Courts is sending information about the new law to state judges and will discuss the measure at an upcoming judicial conference, a spokesperson tells Axios.

Calvin Bryant with his daughter, Treasure, in 2019. 

Calvin Bryant with his daughter, Treasure, in 2019. Photo: Larry McCormack /The Tennessean/USA Today Network

Calvin Bryant received a 17-year sentence under the drug-free school zone law after a low-level drug offense at his Edgehill home in 2008.

A specific quirk in his case, and a deal with Funk, allowed him to be resentenced and released in 2018.

Why it matters: Bryant has been able to care for his mother and mentor football players at his old high school. And he has two children who would not exist if he had served his original, outdated sentence: daughter Treasure and son Calvin Bryant III.

"I could've still been in a cell right now and she wouldn't be here," Bryant said after his daughter was born. "Freedom is everything."

The bottom line: Bryant now wants others serving similar sentences to get their own new beginnings.

"That's a blessing," Bryant tells Axios. "It's a second chance at life."

Reform to harsh school zone law brings hope to heartsick families

Illustration of a school zone sign with opening jail doors over it. 

Criminal justice

Hundreds of defendants imprisoned under Tennessee&#x27;s harsh drug-free school zone law are now eligible for a second chance at justice.<ul><li>A new reform signed into law last month allows them to ask for resentencing. Cases are already working through the court system.</li></ul>

Note: Includes public high school graduates who enroll at a post-secondary institution the summer or fall after graduation; Data: THEC; Chart: Axios Visuals

Fewer Tennessee high schoolers are going to college after graduation, according to data released Monday.

Why it matters: Tennessee officials at every level of government have spent years trying to encourage more residents to pursue higher education. Enrollment rates dropping substantially during the pandemic is the latest sign of lagging interest.

Boosting enrollment is an important part of Tennessee's economic development strategy, especially as businesses like Ford seek employees with post-secondary training.

Context: The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) published a new report tracking the college-going rate, which measures the percentage of high school seniors who go straight into college. 

College-going reached 64.4% in 2015, bolstered by programs like Tennessee Promise.

Driving the news: That number has dropped significantly, falling to 52.8% in 2021. The drop was especially steep during the pandemic.

What's next: THEC hopes to brainstorm ways to reverse the downward trend by hosting a coalition of state and local leaders at a meeting Tuesday.

What they're saying: "Tennessee is not alone in this challenge ahead, but it's still pretty shocking to see," Samantha Gutter, THEC's chief access and outreach officer, tells Axios.

"To see that number, to see that decline, it's a real call to action."

Between the lines: Gutter says officials will need to find ways to make the case to high schoolers that investing time in higher education — whether through a four-year degree, a community college program or a technical college certificate — will pay off with higher wages and employment options.

In an effort to make college more affordable and enticing amid inflation, state colleges are freezing their tuition next year.

Yes, but: Colleges typically struggle to attract students during periods of low unemployment. Tennessee unemployment remains at record lows, per state data.

Zoom in: Davidson County's college-going rate is 47%, which is lower than the statewide figure.

Williamson County has the highest rate in the state at 81%.

The big picture: Statewide data shows racial and gender gaps, with Black and Latino students less likely to enroll than their white peers and women more likely to enroll than men.

Tennessee college enrollment sinks

The percentage of TN high school seniors who go straight into college was 52.8% in 2021.

Fewer Tennessee high schoolers are going to college after graduation, according to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="data released Monday" data-vars-click-url="https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/thec/bureau/research/college-going-reports/CGR-HSSO%20Report%20Draft_Final.pdf" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/thec/bureau/research/college-going-reports/CGR-HSSO%20Report%20Draft_Final.pdf" target="_blank">data released Monday</a>.Why it matters: Tennessee officials at every level of government have spent years trying to encourage more residents to pursue higher education. Enrollment rates dropping substantially during the pandemic is the latest sign of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="lagging interest" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2022/04/04/community-college-enrollment-drop-leads-to-layoffs" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2022/04/04/community-college-enrollment-drop-leads-to-layoffs" target="_self">lagging interest</a>.

COVID

Meharry Medical College is unveiling a new historical marker Friday honoring trailblazing graduate Josie E. Wells.

Why it matters: Wells was one of Nashville's first female doctors and the first woman to join the Meharry faculty, helping steer the historically Black medical college through the early 1900s.

"She became the matriarch of a generation," Meharry library executive director Sandra Parham tells Axios.

Driving the news: Parham helped push for the historical marker after learning about Wells' story through library archives. The Metro Historical Commission unanimously approved the marker last year.

"She had to overcome a lot," Parham says of Wells, who was only one generation removed from slavery and was one of just a handful of women to graduate from Meharry in 1904.

Wells then founded a private practice to treat women and children in the city.

Between the lines: The new historical marker, which will be on Dr. DB Todd Jr. Boulevard, is the latest in a broad effort among city leaders and historians to recognize Black leaders who shaped the city by fighting for equality.

Parham says Wells' hard work set an example for those who followed during the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

The big picture: Recognizing Wells' legacy is part of appreciating the city's broader history, Parham says.

"Hopefully other people who didn't know the story will know the story," Parham says.

"I want a child on Albion Street three blocks over to say, 'I can do that. … That school up on the hill is for me, too.'"

Honoring Meharry groundbreaker Josie E. Wells with historical marker

"She became the matriarch of a generation."

Photo courtesy of Meharry Medical College

Photo: courtesy of Meharry Medical College

Meharry Medical College is unveiling a new historical marker Friday honoring trailblazing graduate <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Josie E. Wells" data-vars-click-url="https://home.mmc.edu/historical-city-marker-in-the-works-for-meharrys-first-female-faculty-member/" data-vars-content-id="f71a05db-85b3-4253-80f0-52c672da86bf" data-vars-headline="Honoring Meharry groundbreaker Josie E. Wells with historical marker" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://home.mmc.edu/historical-city-marker-in-the-works-for-meharrys-first-female-faculty-member/" target="_blank">Josie E. Wells</a>.Why it matters: Wells was one of Nashville&#x27;s first female doctors and the first woman to join the Meharry faculty, helping steer the historically Black medical college through the early 1900s.

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Stories

Tennessee college enrollment sinks

Reform to harsh school zone law brings hope to heartsick families

Tennessee public colleges freeze tuition

Honoring Meharry groundbreaker Josie E. Wells with historical marker

Lee's school voucher program gets TN Supreme Court win