TCASN advocates at the local, state, and national level for policies that increase college access and completion for underrrepresented students.

Local Advocacy

Through Nashville’s New Skills Ready Grant, the Network creates annual policy scans, which provide a review of local, state, and federal policies and programs that create direct and indirect barriers to higher education success for students in the Metro Nashville Area.

Point of Departure: Navigating Nashville as a College Commuter, also funded through Nashville’s New Skills Ready Grant, focuses on college accessibility as it relates to Nashville’s public transit system, with a specific focus on college students who commute.

State-Level Advocacy 

TCASN serves as a resource to members of Tennessee's General Assembly who serve on education committees and works with state government agencies to provide input on policy implementation. Our focus with our state-wide advocacy efforts is on illuminating policy-related barriers that underrepresented students face in accessing and succeeding in postsecondary and elevating practices that increase college completion, particularly for low-income and first generation students.

Some of our priorities include:

• Refine TN Promise

• Support Programs for Part-time Students

• Access to Transportation

• College Support Services

• Combating Summer Melt

• Dedicated College Counselors for Every Student

• Expanded Access to Dual Enrollment

• Food Insecurity on College Campuses

• Preventing Undermatching

• Understanding the True Cost of College

Federal Advocacy

The Network serves as a resource to Tennessee's congressional delegation on federal college access and success policy issues, particularly as they affect low-income and first generation students. Our foci with federal advocacy efforts are around the areas of FAFSA simplification, sustaining the purchasing power of federal need-based financial aid, and ensuring continued availability of federal college access and success programs.