Fewer lottery scholarships granted than were projected

Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2004 | 9:46 a.m.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee's HOPE scholarship program gave out fewer grants in its first year than state officials had expected.

About 30,060 Tennessee students attending college in-state this fall received the lottery-funded scholarships, which were worth more than $44 million.

But at one point the Tennessee Higher Education Commission projected that as many as 45,000 students would receive grants from the new scholarship program.

Brian Noland, THEC's associate executive director, said the state's estimate was too high because it relied on inaccurate federal government projections of the number of high school graduates in the state.

He also said some people still don't know about the scholarships.

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