Expectations of a Promise: The Psychological Contracts Between Students, the State, and Key Actors in a Tuition-Free College Environment

This qualitative study examines Tennessee Promise students’ (N = 60) perceptions of supports and resources during their first year of college. Students’ reflections suggest that they hold expectations for support from the state beyond scholarship dollars, and that other actors, including faculty, staff, parents, and the state’s nonprofit partner, mediate fulfillment of these expectations. Students’ unmet expectations for the state may impede their college success and signal dimensions of student need not met by current scholarship program provisions. Evidence of these “psychological contracts” has implications for the architecture and framing of Promise programs and the provision of supplemental supports by colleges.