Charter School Grant Opportunities

Charter School Program (CSP) Grant Cohort 2025 (for Newly Authorized Charter Schools)

The Charter School Program grant is a federal grant awarded to the Tennessee Department of Education by the United States Department of Education (USED). One of the objectives of this five-year federal grant is to “increase the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the United States”. In order to support this objective, the department is excited to offer both planning and implementation and replication subgrants under the CSP program. This grant competition is available to either (1) newly authorized Tennessee charter school operators for the purpose of designing, planning, and implementing their new schools; OR to (2) existing Tennessee charter school operators who have schools currently operating the state of Tennessee that have demonstrated academic, financial and operational success, and will be able to utilize these funds to replicate their successful school model to serve a greater number of educationally disadvantaged students. Another CSP Grant Cohort 2025 competition will open March 3. (Review the resources below for additional information.

Event Date
CSP Application Released March 3, 2025
CSP Application Due May 1, 2025
Awards Announced June 30, 2025
Planning Period June 30 to School Opening*; OR 18 months prior to School Opening
Implementation Period School Opening* to End of Year 2 of Operation

CSP Grant Cohort 2024

The department awarded 11 grants for the 2024 cohort. The following schools received $750,000 for planning and implementation of a new charter school or replication of a successful model:

  • American Classical Academy Jackson-Madison
  • American Classical Rutherford
  • ChattAcademy Community School
  • Empower Memphis Career and College Prep
  • Invictus Nashville Charter School
  • Journey Northeast Academy
  • Knoxville Preparatory School
  • Rutherford Collegiate Prep
  • Springs Public Schools Tennessee-Empower Academy
  • Tennessee Career Academy
  • Tennessee Nature Academy

Resources for Grant Recipients