President's Emerging Leaders Program

Applications for the 2026-27 academic year are now open. Applications will close on 31 Dec. 2025.

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. Students must be a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident to qualify.

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 events. The first event will be your registration event, and we will send out the date for that as soon as it becomes available. The other, Honors and PELP Orientation, will be held on 18, 19, and 20 August 2026. PELP students will have early move-in on the 18th 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.

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Last Name*Please supply your surname.

First Name*Please supply your first name and middle initial

Mailing Address*Please provide your current mailing address including city, state, and zip code.

Phone*Please provide a current phone number

E-mail*Please provide your preferred email address

High School*Please supply the name of the high school from which you will graduate.

GPA*Please enter your current unweighted GPA

ACTPlease enter your highest composite ACT score.

Reference*Please supply the name, position, and e-mail address for one reference. Please ask this person to send a confidential letter of recommendation to Dr. Tim Winters at PELP@apsu.edu.

Leadership Activities*Please list all leadership activities in which you have engaged during your high school years.

Please answer the following questions in 500-700 words total, and send your answers as an attachment in an email to PELP@apsu.edu.

1. What qualities do you think one should have in order to be an effective leader?

2. Describe a situation in which you took a position of leadership that was not in an organizational structure. For example, you saw someone being bullied and took some sort of action.

3. Describe the path that led you to seek admission to the President's Emerging Leaders Program.

4. What goals do you hope to accomplish by participating in the program?

President's Emerging Leaders Program

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