School Counselor FAQs

Golden LEAF strives to invest in students who are currently active in their rural community and intend to graduate and return to live in a rural, North Carolina area.

Applicants must:

• Be a North Carolina resident for tuition purposes and reside in a qualifying rural North Carolina county,
• Be a high school senior enrolling full-time in the fall as a first-year student or a currently enrolled community college transfer student enrolling full-time in the fall,
• Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5,
• Plan to enroll in a participating North Carolina public or private college/university,
• Have a financial need as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process,
• Be able to communicate a commitment to returning to a rural North Carolina county after graduation.

• Make sure that students answer all components of the prompt:
• Student identifies two or more ways they currently contribute to their rural community
• Student identifies their intended college major
• Student identifies two or more ways their major/career plans will help them contribute to a rural community after graduation
• Have the student review the essay to check for grammatical and mechanical errors