Tennessee has a program which provides scholarship money for students who meet certain qualifications but a key element is community service which many students have skipped.

ABC News in Nashville reports.

Thousands of Tennessee college freshmen in danger of losing scholarship

Thousands of incoming college freshmen across the state of Tennessee are in danger of losing big bucks in free tuition.

About 31,000 recent high school graduates are signed up for Tennessee Promise, the new program that covers two years of tuition at Tennessee community colleges and technical schools.

A News Channel 11 investigation revealed only about 25 percent of Tennessee Promise students have completed a key requirement to qualify for free education. That means more than 23,000 students could lose Tennessee Promise come the first of August.

In order to be eligible for the Tennessee Promise Scholarship, students have to complete 8 hours of community service, something almost three quarters of students enrolled in the program haven’t done.

“We live in the volunteer state, so a big part of this is 8 hours of community service that each student must perform before each eligible semester,” said Joshua Johnson, Scholarship Coordinator for Northeast State Community College.

Students have until August 1st to complete the community service.

“We’ve got four weeks left to the deadline, we’re looking at between 23 and 25 percent that have actually reported and verified their hours,” Johnson said.