The Golden LEAF Foundation announced that 215 rural North Carolina students were selected to receive up to a $14,000 Golden LEAF Scholarship, including seven in Duplin County.
High school seniors entering college as first year students are eligible for a $3,500 scholarship each year for up to four years of undergraduate study at a participating four-year North Carolina college or university. Community college transfer students are eligible for $3,500 a year for up to three years of undergraduate study.
Recipients from rural or economically distressed North Carolina counties are selected based on future career goals and an expressed intent to contribute to the stateʼs rural communities upon graduation from college.
The Golden LEAF Foundation established the Golden LEAF Scholarship Program to broaden educational opportunities and provide support to students from rural counties with the goal that recipients will return and contribute to rural communities after graduation. The North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) administers the program and selects students for awards.
“We are proud to award scholarships to hardworking and bright students with deep roots in their rural communities,” said Scott T. Hamilton, Golden LEAF Foundation President, Chief Executive Officer. “These students were selected out of a pool of nearly 2,000 applicants. We look forward to the future success of these scholarship recipients as they follow their education pursuits and develop into North Carolina's next generation of rural leaders.”
Scholarship recipients may also apply for the Golden LEAF Rural Internship Initiative. The Rural Internship Initiative provides Golden LEAF Scholars with professional work experience related to their career field in a rural North Carolina community. The Golden LEAF Foundation provides funding to pay interns $15 per hour for up to 400 hours of work. Internships take place between May and August.
“It is because of students like the ones from my district that I have confidence in the future of our rural communities,” said Sen. Brent Jackson. “Congratulations on receiving a Golden LEAF Scholarship. You have been provided an exceptional opportunity to gain invaluable skills that will positively impact our community long after you graduate from college.”
“It is such a pleasure to offer congratulations to the Golden LEAF Scholarship recipients from my district,” said Rep. Jimmy Dixon. “Your willingness to pursue an education and return to your home county in the future is a strong indicator of future success for not only our rural communities but also our entire state.”
The newly selected 2024-25 Golden LEAF Scholarship recipients from Duplin County are as follows:
Anna Armstrong, Meredith College, James Kenan High School;Beaty Brown, UNC-Wilmington, East Duplin High School;Garrett Johnson, East Carolina University, East Duplin High School;Elise Krieger, UNC-Chapel Hill; East Duplin High School;Ashley Medina, East Carolina University, Wallace-Rose Hill High School;Brianna Thomas, North Carolina Central University, Duplin Early College High School;Trustine Vu, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duplin Early College High School
The Golden LEAF Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers.
For 25 years, Golden LEAF has worked to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural and tobacco-dependent communities through leadership in grantmaking, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation. The Foundation has provided lasting impact to tobacco-dependent, economically distressed, and rural areas of the state by helping create 68,000 jobs, more than $780 million in new payrolls, and more than 98,000 workers trained or retrained for higher wages.
For more information about Golden LEAF and our programs, please visit GoldenLEAF.org.
North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) administers the program on behalf of the Golden LEAF Foundation. Established in 1965, NCSEAA is the State agency that promotes access to higher education by administering financial aid and savings programs, informing students and families about paying for college, teaching educators about financial aid administration and advocating for resources to support students.
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