What TNAchieves does

TNAchieves is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, founded in 2008 as knoxAchieves and rebranded statewide in 2015. It provides a portfolio of post-secondary access and completion programs for Tennessee high school students and college enrollees, operating as the primary partnering organization for the state-administered TN Promise last-dollar scholarship. Its programs span the full student lifecycle: TN Promise scholarship coordination and mandatory high school meetings, Access coaching for high school seniors, COMPLETE coaching plus emergency aid grants for college students at community colleges and Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCATs), Summer Bridge and Summer Institute academic readiness, volunteer mentorship, and employer-led Job Shadow Days. Regional variants include Knox Promise (Knox County) and MemCOMPLETE/MemACCESS (Memphis-Shelby County, launched 2024).

The organization's technology stack is light and conventional: a web platform (tnachieves.org) serving as the primary digital touchpoint for applications, resources, and community service submission, supplemented by SMS program alerts and the At Scale podcast. Operational reach is achieved through physical presence rather than technology — 432 high school partnerships, on-campus coaching at 37 community colleges and TCATs, and service in 91 of Tennessee's 95 counties, supported by a team of approximately 50 staff serving nearly 90,000 students annually.

The revenue model is donation- and partnership-based, with three primary streams: individual donations (tiered at $93, $279, and $465 giving levels corresponding to one, three, and five students supported), corporate and foundation sponsorships organized into Gold/Silver/Bronze tiers (FedEx, JPMorgan Chase, Kresge, Nissan, Deloitte, SoFi, and others), and government grants (including Tennessee Department of Health pass-through funding for the Public Health Academic Bridge Scholars Program). All student-facing services are provided free of charge, and the organization reports a unit operating cost of approximately $93 per student per year, which it benchmarks as materially below peer organizations. Since 2009, 57,767 students have earned post-secondary credentials through TNAchieves-supported pathways, and 84.7% of graduates are reported to live and work in Tennessee post-graduation.

Name

TNAchieves

Legal name

tnAchieves

Website

https://tnachieves.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

TNAchieves is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers post-secondary access and completion programs — including TN Promise scholarship coordination, coaching, emergency aid grants, and mentorship — to nearly 90,000 Tennessee high school and college students annually across 91 of the state's 95 counties.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Support Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialized Homework Support & Academic Coaching (Remediation-Focused) (EDAKADAJ)

Keywords

• College access programs
• Student support services
• Scholarship coordination
• College completion coaching
• Mentor matching

Headquarters

HQ city

Knoxville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: TNAchieves operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization relying on individual donations. Donation tiers include $465 (supports 5 students for one year), $279 (supports 3 students for one year), and $93 (supports 1 student for one year). The organization emphasizes low annual cost per student of $93 compared to peer organizations spending more than $2,000 per year per student.
2. Corporate and Foundation Partnerships: Gold, Silver, and Bronze level corporate sponsors provide financial support. Partners include major corporations like FedEx, JPMorgan Chase, The Kresge Foundation, Nissan, Deloitte, and healthcare organizations. SoFi partnered with Kelsea Ballerini to invest $2 million through TNAchieves.
3. Government Partnerships: Partnerships with Tennessee state agencies including the Tennessee Department of Health for the Public Health Academic Bridge Scholars Program, providing $5,000 scholarships to 20 students annually.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

TNAchieves is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides higher education access and completion support to Tennessee high school students and college students. Its core offerings include coordinating the TN Promise last-dollar scholarship, providing COMPLETE coaching and emergency aid grants, running Access Programs for college milestones, and matching students with volunteer mentors. All programs are delivered free of charge to students and funded through individual donations, corporate sponsorships, and foundation grants.

Product overview

TNAchieves is a comprehensive student support organization offering a portfolio of interconnected programs designed to guide Tennessee students from high school through college completion and into meaningful careers. The core offerings include TN Promise (a last-dollar scholarship program), COMPLETE (coaching and grants), Access Programs (college access coaching), and Mentors (volunteer mentorship). Regional programs include Knox Promise, MemCOMPLETE, and MemACCESS for specific counties. Supporting programs include Summer Bridge and Summer Institute (academic readiness), Job Shadowing (career exposure), and the At Scale Podcast for thought leadership. The organization operates on a 'pilot, study, scale' methodology, testing programs locally before expanding statewide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TN Promise: A last-dollar scholarship program providing opportunity for Tennessee high school students to earn a postsecondary credential, including GED or HiSET recipients prior to their 19th birthday.
• COMPLETE
• Knox Promise
• MemCOMPLETE
• MemACCESS
• Summer Bridge
• Summer Institute
• Access Programs
• At Scale Podcast
• ADVANCE865

Products and services

• TN Promise
• COMPLETE Proactive college coaching combined with emergency aid grants designed to help students complete credentials. Includes one-on-one coaching, financial microgrants, and accountability partnerships that have demonstrated measurable gains in persistence rates.
• Knox Promise
• MemCOMPLETE A Memphis/Shelby County expansion of the COMPLETE model, providing proactive college coaching and emergency aid grants for students at Southwest Tennessee Community College and TCAT Memphis. Early results show 75% higher graduation rates among economically disadvantaged students.
• MemACCESS Program embedding tnAchieves college access coaches in Memphis high schools to increase college milestone completion and enrollment rates.
• Access Programs
• Summer Bridge
• Summer Institute
• Mentors
• Job Shadowing

Quantifiable outcome

• 84.7% of TNAchieves graduates live and work in Tennessee
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• TN Promise (Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerTNAchieves serves as a partnering organization for the TN Promise scholarship, a last-dollar program providing tuition and mandatory fees at eligible Tennessee post-secondary institutions. TNAchieves supports students with meetings, coaching, community service tracking, and program requirements.
• Tennessee Board of RegentscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the Tennessee Board of Regents system governing community colleges and TCATs. TBR Chancellor Dr. Flora Tydings featured on At Scale Podcast discussing pathways between students, higher education, community, and businesses.
• Tennessee Department of HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint creation of the Public Health Academic Bridge Scholars Program providing $5,000 annual scholarships to 20 students pursuing health-related bachelor's degrees. TDH provides funding through CDC Public Health Infrastructure Grant.
• Slingshot MemphiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Memphis alliance implementing MemCOMPLETE and MemACCESS programs with MDRC.
• MDRCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner evaluating MemCOMPLETE and MemACCESS program outcomes in Memphis.
• Oak Ridge National LaboratorycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerEmployer partner providing job shadowing opportunities for TNAchieves students to explore careers in research and science.
• NissancoreGTM or Marketing PartnerEmployer partner offering job shadowing experiences for students to explore automotive manufacturing careers.
• St. Jude Children's Research HospitalcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerHealthcare partner providing job shadowing opportunities for students interested in medical and research careers.
• Tennessee TitansminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNFL team partner offering job shadow experiences and career exploration for students.
• DollywoodminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEntertainment partner providing job shadow opportunities for students.
• Turner ConstructioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in workforce development through Titans Construction Training Camp (TK2), K-12 engagement, and job shadow programs. Building new Nissan Stadium with community room for nonprofits.
• Leadership TennesseecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization bringing Tennessee leaders together to understand communities, challenges, and opportunities. President & CEO Alfred Degrafinreid featured on At Scale Podcast discussing education and leadership.
• Discovery Park of AmericaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational museum in Union City providing experiential learning experiences and career exposure for students. President & CEO Scott Williams featured on At Scale Podcast.
• Southwest Tennessee Community CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary post-secondary partner for MemCOMPLETE program serving Memphis students. Summer Institute also hosted at this institution.
• TCAT MemphiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnical training partner for MemCOMPLETE program in Memphis.
• Memphis-Shelby County SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerK-12 partner for MemACCESS program embedding college access coaches in Memphis high schools.
• SCOREcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch organization that produced report on COMPLETE coaching and completion grants, highlighting 11.7 percentage point gains in student persistence and 20 percentage point gains for students of color.
• University of Tennessee Boyd Center for Business and Economic ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduced economic impact report showing $40.6-45.9 billion in lifetime earnings for TNAchieves credential completers.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bottom Line: Bottom Line is a national nonprofit that provides one-on-one college access and persistence advising to low-income and first-generation students — directly comparable to TNAchieves' COMPLETE coaching and Access Programs model. Both organizations run long-term advising models and target similar student outcomes.
• OneGoal: OneGoal is a national college persistence program that places Program Directors in high schools to support low-income students through high school and into post-secondary completion — closely aligned with TNAchieves' access and persistence model and target student population.
• iMentor: iMentor pairs low-income high school students with volunteer mentors for college access and success — directly comparable to TNAchieves' volunteer mentor matching and high-school-to-college pipeline work.
• uAspire: uAspire provides college affordability advising and financial aid navigation to low-income students, including scholarship and last-dollar funding support — overlapping significantly with TNAchieves' TN Promise coordination and FAFSA support functions.
• College Advising Corps: College Advising Corps places recent college graduates as full-time college advisers in underserved high schools, a model that directly parallels TNAchieves' embedded access coaches in high schools (including MemACCESS).

Emerging players

• College Spring: College Spring provides college access advising, test prep, and near-peer coaching for high school students — comparable to the access, bridge, and mentoring layers of TNAchieves, though at smaller scale.
• Year Up: Year Up is a workforce development nonprofit combining skills training, college credit, and corporate partnerships for young adults — comparable to TNAchieves' workforce/career pillar (Job Shadow Days, workforce mentors, transfer pathways).
• America Needs You: America Needs You provides intensive mentoring and professional development for low-income, first-generation college students — closely aligned with the mentoring and career exposure components of TNAchieves' programs.

Others

• National College Access Network (NCAN): NCAN is a membership and advocacy organization supporting the college access and success field — an ecosystem enabler that TNAchieves participates in rather than directly competes with, but which is highly comparable in mission and constituency.
• Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC): TSAC administers the TN Promise scholarship and other state aid programs — the state-level partner that TNAchieves complements rather than competes with, but functionally operates the same student pipeline.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses6 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLMYeBMbsUHKu9trY3rrs90hamHSawoyW9
• Instagramlinktr.ee/followtnachieves
• Xx.com/tnAchieves

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TNAchieves