Welcome to TnACHE-SEED

TnACHE-SEED is a successfully proven educational program that encourages Tennessee Appalachian students to pursue a post-secondary education. The TnACHE-SEED program administers low-cost, high-impact competitive grants and other professional services to middle and high schools for activities (campus visits, college/career fairs, etc) that encourage students to graduate from high school and prepare for a post-secondary education. Since TnACHE-SEED is not affiliated with a specific educational institution, the program focuses on access to a variety of post-secondary educational opportunities including vocational and technical schools and two and four-year colleges and universities.

Modeled after successful programs in Ohio and West Virginia, TnACHE-SEED focuses on partnerships with institutes of higher education and business, industry, and community organizations to stimulate and sustain economic development in the region by raising high school graduation rates and increasing student, parent, and teacher knowledge about post-secondary educational attainment.

The TnACHE-SEED program targets Appalachian counties deemed distressed by the Appalachian Regional Commission. In addition, the newly-funded Tennessee Appalachian Project (TAP), with support from the State of Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Office, provides the same services to schools in at-risk counties. SEED staff members are seeking additional corporate sponsors to continue to scale up these projects to meet the needs of schools and students throughout Appalachian Tennessee and beyond.

TnACHE-SEED Works! In East Tennessee, the TnACHE-SEED program has increased high school graduation rates, college-going rates, and established infrastructures of community-wide school support providing all students with information about and access to college. TnACHE-SEED invests in Appalachian students so that they can expect, pursue, and succeed in higher education, the workforce, and life.

The TnACHE-SEED program originated at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2002 and has been led by SouthEast Educational, Inc., a woman-directed 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, since 2007. In addition to Ohio, West Virginia, and Tennessee, other active centers are operating in Georgia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.