General Eligibility

(1) To be eligible for a TELS award a student shall meet the requirements of T.C.A. §§ 49-4-904 and 49-4-905. (2) The receipt of a TELS award is contingent upon admission and enrollment at an eligible postsecondary institution. Academically qualifying for any of these award programs does not guarantee admission to an eligible postsecondary institution. (3) Except for approved medical or personal leaves of absence as provided in Rule 1640-01-19- .11 or emergency military duty as provided in Rule 1640-01-19-.12, award recipients must be continuously enrolled and maintain satisfactory academic progress at an eligible postsecondary institution. (4) A student reaches the terminating event of earning a baccalaureate degree under T.C.A. § 49-4-913 when the student completes all academic course requirements of the student’s declared eligible program of study. Failure of the student to complete institutional requirements related to the process of conferring the credential, but unrelated to the completion of the required courses such as an exit interview, application to graduate, or others, will not allow the student to continue to be eligible for the scholarship in subsequent semesters. (5) Notwithstanding paragraph (4) above, a student who meets all requirements for a fourth or fifth year of eligibility except that the student is classified at the professional level rather than as an undergraduate and has not met a terminating event in accordance with T.C.A. § 49-4- 913, is eligible if the student was accepted into a professional-level program of study that is an extension of the student’s bachelor’s degree program.