President's Emerging Leaders Program

Applications for the 2025-26 academic year are now closed.  The application will re-open on 1 August 2025 for the 2026-27 academic year.  

Students who are admitted to the President’s Emerging Leaders Program (PELP) have, by the time of their application to Austin Peay, already demonstrated significant achievements as leaders and scholars.

Who can apply?

High school seniors who plan to enter Austin Peay as full-time freshmen in the Fall of 2026 can now apply to PELP. To be considered for PELP, you must:

• Have a 3.6 high school GPA,
• Have an ACT score of 24 or higher, 
• Exhibit leadership qualities (such as integrity, reliability, communication skills, and some understanding of problem solving) as evidenced by successful participation in high school and community service activities.
• Please note that if you are accepted to the program, you will need to attend two mandatory orientation events, one overnight from May 30-31, the other on 19, 20, and 21 August. PELP students will have early move-in on the 19th of August for the August Orientation.

The application consists of some basic biographical information, some essay questions, and a face-to-face interview with the director and a few of the current PELP students.  Please use your very best writing style when you submit the responses to the essay prompts.  Be careful to use good grammar, check your spelling, and be sure that you do not have typographical errors.

Please note that AI generated responses will disqualify an application.