Emerging Leaders Frequently Asked Questions
For in-state and border county students, the scholarship is $5,500 per year, and it is split between fall and spring semester installments. Out-of-state students can also receive an amount to pay the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition. This amount can vary because of the 250R vs. fully out-of-state charges.
NOTE: The Emerging Leaders scholarship cannot be combined with the President's, Provost's, Dean's, Rising Leaders, or First Scholars Scholarships. If you have questions about the requirements please email studentinvolvement@memphis.edu
The program can accept up to 35 students with each incoming freshman class. A portion of those spaces are available to out-of-state students.
Yes. Students apply online through Tiger Scholarship Manager. Applications open mid-November each year and are due February 1. By that date, a high school senior must have submitted the application to be considered for the program. A review of all applications begins after that deadline.
Students interested in the Emerging Leaders Program must have at least a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale and a minimum of either a 21 on the ACT or a 1060 on the SAT. Students should also exhibit ongoing involvement and leadership throughout their high school years including, but not limited to clubs and organizations, community service, athletic involvement, and/or local and community organization membership.
No. The Emerging Leaders program is a four-year, cohort-style program, and is only offered to high school seniors who have been admitted to and have not yet matriculated as full-time students at the University of Memphis.
All completed applications are reviewed. Due to application volume, we are unable to commit to communicating when an application has been received. The review process takes a look at all application components and utilizes a rubric to assign scores to the essays, high school involvement, and academics of all candidates. At the end of that review, about 100 candidates are invited to interview with program staff and students.
An individual, virtual interview process is employed for all candidates. Interviews last about 30 minutes and help a great deal with the final selections. Once all interviews have been completed, a final review of all application materials occurs. Applicants are informed of selections soon thereafter.
From the February 1 application deadline through to the initial round of selections, the process takes between 6 and 8 weeks. All applicants should anticipate some response by the end of March.
When a student is selected, that student will receive a letter that outlines the next steps. All Emerging Leaders must live on campus as freshmen, in a residence hall community. While living among other Emerging Leaders is a requirement, the cost of the residence hall is paid for by the student and not covered by the program. Incoming Emerging Leaders must attend New Student Orientation and Frosh Camp prior to their first semester. Finally, a kickoff meeting is mandatory for all incoming and current Emerging Leaders; however, that does not occur until students move on campus in August.
Once a student arrives on campus, the obligations are different for each year in the program, but they include special coursework, student involvement, professional development, community service, and leadership speaker attendance. A thorough review for each year is available on the Current EL webpage. For some, it may sound like an overwhelming amount of requirements, but it should take most an average of 3-5 hours per week. Students are guided through their program experiences by staff members and upperclassmen.