app state admissions essay

Appalachian State University

• Cost & scholarships
• Essay prompt

Want to see your chances of admission at Appalachian State University?

We take every aspect of your personal profile into consideration when calculating your admissions chances.

Appalachian State University’s 2023-24 Essay Prompts

Why this college short response.

Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all.

Our students think critically, communicate effectively, make local to global connections, and understand the responsibilities of community engagement. We embrace our obligation to help create healthy, just, and sustainable societies by equipping our students to live with knowledge, compassion, dedication, humility, and dignity.

After reviewing our institutional mission statement, please describe why you are interested in attending Appalachian State. Your response is an important factor in distinguishing an admissible candidate within our applicant pool. You can type directly into the box or you can paste text from another source.

Common App Personal Essay

The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don‘t feel obligated to do so.

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you‘ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

What will first-time readers think of your college essay?

Entrance Essay

The entrance essay provides an opportunity for you to differentiate your qualifications from other candidates. It can have various names, such as personal statement, letter of intent, statement of purpose, autobiographical statement, and/or objectives of graduate study.

• Align your content with the prompt provided on the application.
• Explain what you want to study and what motivates you to pursue an advanced degree in that subject: What are your academic interests? How did you get interested in the field? What do you hope to get out of graduate school?
• Offer insight into why you are applying to this particular program: How will this graduate program add to your skill set and knowledge base?
• Outline what experiences you have in the field: What kinds of relevant research, academic, clinical, personal or field experiences have you had that prepared you for graduate study? What sets you apart from other applicants?
• Expand upon what you plan to do with your degree: What are your career goals? What do you hope to contribute to your field?
• Answer why the timing is right for you to attend graduate school: Why are you ready to pursue this endeavor?
• Address specific curriculum, research opportunities, or experiences that you are excited to participate in for this specific program: Are there any classes you would be excited to take or professors that you would like to work with on their research?
• Address anything that is not flattering in your application: For example, did you receive a poor grade in a significant class? Are your GRE scores below average? Do you have a gap in employment or experience? Are there any problems or inconsistencies in your application materials (test scores, grades, background check) that you should explain?
• Each essay should be unique and tailored to the specific programs: No two should be exactly the same!

Strictly adhere to all content/format guidelines and page/word number limits. If no specific guidelines for format or content are offered, be brief and state your points clearly.

Engage your reader. Avoid flowery wording and maintain a professional tone. Be compelling and offer an interesting opening paragraph and supporting paragraphs that help the reader understand why you are applying to this type of graduate program. Each paragraph should be focused and have a topic sentence that informs the reader of the paragraph’s emphasis.

Create drafts of your entrance essay well in advance of your application deadline and meet with your career coach regarding the content. Consult the Writing Center on your writing style and grammatical accuracy.

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Advice for admissions at app state

Hey guys. I will be applying to app state and I’m currently working on the optional essay. Anyone have any advice on topics I should avoid or how I should write my essay. I have an 3.85 weighted gpa and 3.6 unweighted. I only took 1 AP in high school. I’m applying without ACT/SAT. I have had all A’s this school year. What are my chances of getting in. I really want to go to Appalachian state so please help me out

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Appalachian State University Requirements for Admission

What are Appalachian State University's admission requirements? While there are a lot of pieces that go into a college application, you should focus on only a few critical things:

• GPA requirements
• Testing requirements, including SAT and ACT requirements
• Application requirements

In this guide we'll cover what you need to get into Appalachian State University and build a strong application.

School location: Boone, NC

Admissions Rate: 83.1%

If you want to get in, the first thing to look at is the acceptance rate. This tells you how competitive the school is and how serious their requirements are.

The acceptance rate at Appalachian State University is 83.1% . For every 100 applicants, 83 are admitted.

This means the school is lightly selective . The school will have their expected requirements for GPA and SAT/ACT scores. If you meet their requirements, you're almost certain to get an offer of admission. But if you don't meet Appalachian State University's requirements, you'll be one of the unlucky few people who gets rejected.

We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies . We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools , from state colleges to the Ivy League.

We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools.

Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.

Appalachian State University GPA Requirements

Many schools specify a minimum GPA requirement, but this is often just the bare minimum to submit an application without immediately getting rejected.

The GPA requirement that really matters is the GPA you need for a real chance of getting in. For this, we look at the school's average GPA for its current students.

Average GPA: 3.97

The average GPA at Appalachian State University is 3.97 .

(Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA.

With a GPA of 3.97, Appalachian State University requires you to be at the top of your class . You'll need nearly straight A's in all your classes to compete with other applicants. Furthermore, you should be taking hard classes - AP or IB courses - to show that college-level academics is a breeze.

SAT and ACT Requirements

Each school has different requirements for standardized testing. Only a few schools require the SAT or ACT, but many consider your scores if you choose to submit them.

Appalachian State University hasn't explicitly named a policy on SAT/ACT requirements, but because it's published average SAT or ACT scores (we'll cover this next), it's likely test flexible. Typically, these schools say, "if you feel your SAT or ACT score represents you well as a student, submit them. Otherwise, don't."

Despite this policy, the truth is that most students still take the SAT or ACT, and most applicants to Appalachian State University will submit their scores. If you don't submit scores, you'll have one fewer dimension to show that you're worthy of being admitted, compared to other students. We therefore recommend that you consider taking the SAT or ACT, and doing well.

Appalachian State University SAT Requirements

Many schools say they have no SAT score cutoff, but the truth is that there is a hidden SAT requirement. This is based on the school's average score.

Average SAT: 1210

The average SAT score composite at Appalachian State University is a 1210 on the 1600 SAT scale.

This score makes Appalachian State University Competitive for SAT test scores.

Appalachian State University SAT Score Analysis (New 1600 SAT)

The 25th percentile SAT score is 1100, and the 75th percentile SAT score is 1270. In other words, a 1100 on the SAT places you below average, while a 1270 will move you up to above average .

Here's the breakdown of SAT scores by section:

SAT Score Choice Policy

The Score Choice policy at your school is an important part of your testing strategy.

Appalachian State University ACT Requirements

Just like for the SAT, Appalachian State University likely doesn't have a hard ACT cutoff, but if you score too low, your application will get tossed in the trash.

Average ACT: 25

The average ACT score at Appalachian State University is 25. This score makes Appalachian State University Moderately Competitive for ACT scores.

The 25th percentile ACT score is 21, and the 75th percentile ACT score is 27.

ACT Score Sending Policy

If you're taking the ACT as opposed to the SAT, you have a huge advantage in how you send scores, and this dramatically affects your testing strategy.

Here it is: when you send ACT scores to colleges, you have absolute control over which tests you send. You could take 10 tests, and only send your highest one. This is unlike the SAT, where many schools require you to send all your tests ever taken.

This means that you have more chances than you think to improve your ACT score. To try to aim for the school's ACT requirement of 21 and above, you should try to take the ACT as many times as you can. When you have the final score that you're happy with, you can then send only that score to all your schools.

ACT Superscore Policy

By and large, most colleges do not superscore the ACT. (Superscore means that the school takes your best section scores from all the test dates you submit, and then combines them into the best possible composite score). Thus, most schools will just take your highest ACT score from a single sitting.

We weren't able to find the school's exact ACT policy, which most likely means that it does not Superscore. Regardless, you can choose your single best ACT score to send in to Appalachian State University, so you should prep until you reach our recommended target ACT score of 21.

Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and ACT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.

SAT/ACT Writing Section Requirements

Currently, only the ACT has an optional essay section that all students can take. The SAT used to also have an optional Essay section, but since June 2021, this has been discontinued unless you are taking the test as part of school-day testing in a few states. Because of this, no school requires the SAT Essay or ACT Writing section, but some schools do recommend certain students submit their results if they have them.

Appalachian State University considers the SAT Essay/ACT Writing section optional and may not include it as part of their admissions consideration. You don't need to worry too much about Writing for this school, but other schools you're applying to may require it.

Final Admissions Verdict

Because this school is lightly selective, you have a great shot at getting in, as long as you don't fall well below average . Aim for a 1100 SAT or a 21 ACT or higher, and you'll almost certainly get an offer of admission. As long as you meet the rest of the application requirements below, you'll be a shoo-in.

But if you score below our recommended target score, you may be one of the very few unlucky people to get rejected.

Admissions Calculator

Here's our custom admissions calculator. Plug in your numbers to see what your chances of getting in are. Pick your test: SAT ACT

• 80-100%: Safety school: Strong chance of getting in
• 50-80%: More likely than not getting in
• 20-50%: Lower but still good chance of getting in
• 5-20%: Reach school: Unlikely to get in, but still have a shot
• 0-5%: Hard reach school: Very difficult to get in

How would your chances improve with a better score?

Take your current SAT score and add 160 points (or take your ACT score and add 4 points) to the calculator above. See how much your chances improve?

At PrepScholar, we've created the leading online SAT/ACT prep program . We guarantee an improvement of 160 SAT points or 4 ACT points on your score, or your money back.

Here's a summary of why we're so much more effective than other prep programs:

• PrepScholar customizes your prep to your strengths and weaknesses . You don't waste time working on areas you already know, so you get more results in less time.
• We guide you through your program step-by-step so that you're never confused about what you should be studying. Focus all your time learning, not worrying about what to learn.
• Our team is made of national SAT/ACT experts . PrepScholar's founders are Harvard graduates and SAT perfect scorers . You'll be studying using the strategies that actually worked for them.
• We've gotten tremendous results with thousands of students across the country. Read about our score results and reviews from our happy customers .

There's a lot more to PrepScholar that makes it the best SAT/ACT prep program. Click to learn more about our program , or sign up for our 5-day free trial to check out PrepScholar for yourself:

Application Requirements

Every school requires an application with the bare essentials - high school transcript and GPA, application form, and other core information. Many schools, as explained above, also require SAT and ACT scores, as well as letters of recommendation, application essays, and interviews. We'll cover the exact requirements of Appalachian State University here.

Application Requirements Overview

• Common Application Not accepted
• Electronic Application Available
• Essay or Personal Statement
• Letters of Recommendation
• Interview Not required
• Application Fee $65
• Fee Waiver Available? Available
• Other Notes

Testing Requirements

• SAT or ACT Considered if submitted
• SAT Essay or ACT Writing Optional
• SAT Subject Tests
• Scores Due in Office March 15

Coursework Requirements

• Subject Required Years
• Foreign Language 2
• Social Studies 1

Deadlines and Early Admissions

• Offered? Deadline Notification
• Yes February 1 January 25
• Yes November 1 January 25

Admissions Office Information

• Address: 287 Boone, NC 28608
• Phone: (828) 262-2000 x2000
• Fax: (828) 262-3296
• Email: [email protected]

Other Schools For You

If you're interested in Appalachian State University, you'll probably be interested in these schools as well. We've divided them into 3 categories depending on how hard they are to get into, relative to Appalachian State University.

Reach Schools: Harder to Get Into

These schools are have higher average SAT scores than Appalachian State University. If you improve your SAT score, you'll be competitive for these schools.

Same Level: Equally Hard to Get Into

If you're competitive for Appalachian State University, these schools will offer you a similar chance of admission.

Safety Schools: Easier to Get Into

If you're currently competitive for Appalachian State University, you should have no problem getting into these schools. If Appalachian State University is currently out of your reach, you might already be competitive for these schools.

Data on this page is sourced from Peterson's Databases © 2023 (Peterson's LLC. All rights reserved.) as well as additional publicly available sources.

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Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies

Application requirements.

• Graduate Admissions
• Apply to Graduate School

App State's School of Graduate Studies works in collaboration with graduate programs to manage the application process.

Start by reviewing the two sets of requirements: those set by the graduate school and those set by your program of interest. It's important to know exactly what should be included in your application as you will not be able to complete it without the required documents.

Required Application Materials

• Graduate School application
• Application fee (non-refundable $65)
• Resume or CV
• Unofficial transcripts from institutions where you have earned a degree(s) (bachelor’s or higher) and/or are currently enrolled in-progress of a degree

Additional Program-Specific Application Materials

Many of App State's graduate programs have specific application requirements in addition to the required materials , such as letters of recommendation and personal statements.

Check below for additional application materials for your program of interest.

Program-Specific Application Materials

Search by program name or type to learn more about program-specific application requirements. Search results will automatically filter as you type.

Master's Programs

Accounting (ms).

• Letters of Recommendation (3)
• Test Scores (GRE/GMAT)  

Test Score Waiver Requirements

• Undergraduate Accounting degree with a GPA of 3.3 or higher from a regionally accredited school and at least two of three recommendations letters from professors for upper-level courses in their discipline; OR
• Cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher AND five or more years of professional or military work experience; OR
• Cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher AND membership in Beta Gamma Sigma; OR
• Cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher AND professional certification with a quantitative focus (e.g., CPA, CFA, CMA); OR
• Earned master's degree

Appalachian Studies (MA)

• Personal Statement (2-pages): Explain your academic and professional goals in the chosen concentration and the value of regional studies to the  compemproary world.
• Work Sample: Due to the interdisciplinary and community-based nature of Appalachian Studies, a work sample can include written work such as essays, articles, short stories or scripts; music recordings or documentation of performances; sample films, photopgraphy, or websites; or reflections on community engagement projects. Collaborative projects are welcome; however, prospective students must specifically describe their participation in any collaborative work samples submitted with their application.

Applied Data Analytics (MS)

• Personal Statement (1-2 pages): Explain why you are interested in the MSADA program; your short term/long term goals and any extenuating circumstances (if any) that the admissions committee should know
• Test Scores (GRE)
• Cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher in your bachelor's or master's degree; OR
• Completion of a graduate certificate in Business Analytics at App State with a minimum GPA of 3.5 or higher; OR
• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in your bachelor's AND verified membership in the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society; OR
• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in your bachelor's AND 5+ years of relevant, post-baccalaureate work or military experience

Athletic Training (MS)

• Letters of Recommendation (2)
• Personal Statement: Explain your insight into what is involved in becoming and practicing as an Athletic Trainer, your reflection on the observation hours obtained, your professional goals and how the MS-AT degree will help you achieve those goals, and if you are interested in research, also include the faculty member(s) with whom you are most interested in working.
• Observation Hours: Clinical observation/shadowing under the direct supervision of a Certified Athletic Trainer. You are advised to observe a variety of activities, events, and athletic training settings.
• A cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.25 or higher; OR

Biology (MS)

• Letters of Recommendation (2): At least one reference letter must be from a faculty member at the applicant's undergraduate degree-granting institution
• Personal Statement: Describe how your academic background prepares you for graduate school and your interest in Biology and conversations you've had with members of the Biology Department with research in your area of interest. Please also provide research and work experience that you've had that will assist in working towards a Master of Science Degree and you see a MS Degree from App State contributing to your career goals?

Business Administration (MBA)

• Personal Statement (1-2 pages, single-spaced): Explain what has prompted your interest in obtaining an MBA in Business Administration degree, and what appeals to you about the program at App State in particular? What professional plans or ambitions do you have once you have completed your master's degree? If there are any extenuating circumstances in your record that you would like to share with the admissions committee, please add in this statement.
• Test Scores (GRE/GMAT)
• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher AND 5+ years full-time professional work or military experience, with at least one letter of recommendation from the direct supervisor detailing your role while employed; OR
• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher AND verified membership in the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society

Clinical Mental Health Counseling (MA)

• Questionnaire (submitted as part of the online application): Provide your goals and reasons for applying to the program.

Computer Science (MS)

• Test Scores (GRE) 

Test Score Waiver Requirements 

• A 3.2 average in undergraduate computer science courses involving programming and software engineering, architecture and systems, algorithms and theory, and written communication skills (as demonstrated by a "B" or better in a communication course).

Curriculum Specialist (MA)

• Proof of Teaching Licensure: Provide a scanned copy of your current teaching license.

Engineering Physics (MS)

• Letters of Recommendations (3)

Test Score Waiver Requirement 

• Cumulative GPA of a 3.0 or higher in your bachelor's degree; OR
• Earned master's degree 

English (MA)

• Letters of Recommendations (2)
• Personal Statement (2-3 pages): Explain the reasons for your interest in pursuing a Master's in English and your preparation for such study.
• Writing Sample (10-pages, double-spaced): Provide a writing sample demonstrating an ability to analyze texts and present critical research.

Exercise Science (MS)

• Personal Statement: Explain how a graduate degree in Exercise Science from App State will fit into your career aspirations? Please indicate 1-2 faculty members you would be interested in working with as a graduate student and explain why.

Geography (MA)

• Personal Statement (1-2 pages): Describe the reasons that you want to pursue a graduate degree in Geography at App State.

Health Administration (MHA)

• Personal Statement: Describe how the MHA program at App State will help you achieve your career goals. Describe your career and experiences to this point. How will they contribute to what you hope to gain, and how can your skills and experiences contribute to the programs learning environment?

Higher Education (MA)

• Letters of Recommendation (2): One recommendation must be from a recent faculty member or supervisor
• Personal Statement (2-3 pages): Describe why you wish to pursue an MA in Higher Education, and where do you hope it will take you? 
• Essay (750 words max): Describe what you believe to be the most important issue facing higher education right now and why.

History (MA)

• Letters of Recomendation (3)
• Personal Statement (2-pages max): State the reasons you wish to attend Appalachian State's History program. 
• Writing Sample (6-page minimum): Provide an example of a research paper in which you make an argument using evidence of primary and secondary sources.
• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in your bachelor's degree; OR
• Earned master's degree; AND 
• a sample of written work, such as a research paper

Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management (MA)

Library science (mls), literacy education (ma).

• Proof of teaching licensure: (classroom/clinical concentration applicants only)

Marriage and Family Therapy (MA)

• Letters of Recommendation (3): If you are a recent graduate, one reference must be a professor

Mathematics (MA)

• Personal Statement (1-2 pages): describe your interest in our program, highlight your professional goals and explain how our program can help you achieve them.
• Baccalaureate degree with a major in mathematics, statistics or mathematics education; AND
• GPA 3.2 or higher in undergraduate mathematics and statistics courses (calculus, linear algebra, proof-writing, analysis, probability, and statistical analysis; OR

Media, Technology, & Learning Design (MA)

• Proof of Teaching Licensure: (instructional technology K-12 facilitation concentration applicants only)

Music Performance (MM)

Music therapy (mmt).

• Letters of Recommendations (3): recommendations must be from professors and/or supervisors
• Audition video upload

Nursing (MSN)

• Personal Statement: Describe your career goals and philosophy of nursing.
• Proof of Licensure: provide a copy of your current, unrestricted RN license for North Carolina or a state participating in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) with North Carolina

Nutrition - Dietetics (MS)

Nutrition - public health nutrition practice (ms).

• Personal Statement (3-double-spaced pages max): Describe your educational/career background, why you have chosen to apply the program and how the program will help you address your career goals.

Occupational Therapy (MS)

• Observation Hours

Political Science (MA)

• Personal Statement (2-pages): Describe your academic and professional goals in your chosen concentration.

Professional School Counseling (MA)

Psychology - psychological science concentration (ma).

• Personal Statement (2-pages max): Describe your academic and professional goals, including research interests, and identify a potential mentor from the Psychology faculty.

Public Administration (MPA)

• Personal Statement (3-page, double-spaced max): Explain what has prompted your interest in obtaining an MPA degree, and what appeals to you about the program at App State in particular. What professional plans or ambitions do you have once you have completed your Master's degree? What skills and competencies would you like to gain while in the MPA program? Please be as specific as possible.
• Cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher in your bachelor's or master's degree; OR
• five or more years of relevant work experience in government or nonprofit agency; OR
• completed 9 credit hours of graduate coursework at an accredited institution with a GPA of 3.4 or higher within the last 5 years

Public Health (MPH)

• Personal Statement (2-page, double-spaced max): Describe your educational/career background, why you have applied to the program and how the program will help you address your career goals.

Romance Languages (MA)

• Writing Sample (4-7 pages, double spaced): Please provide a writing sample in the target language. It should be analytical and demonstrate nuanced thinking and expository skills. 
• Proof of Teaching Licensure: (french / spanish K-12 teaching concentrations applicants only)

School Administration (MSA)

• Letters of Recommendation (3): one reference letter must be from your current school principal or immediate supervisor
• Personal Statement (2-pages max): Describe your leadership philosophy as an educator and include your career goals for the next five years.
• Proof of Teaching Licensure: Please provide a scanned copy of your current teaching license
• Cumulative GPA of 3.1 or higher in your bachelor's degree; OR
• Earned master's degree; OR
• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 AND 5+ years of professional experience in K-12 education

Social Work (MSW)

• Letters of Recommendation (3): All letters of recommendation must come from a collegiate or professional work contact; at least 1 reference must speak to your academics and at least 1 reference must speak to your paid or volunteer human service agency experiences
• Discuss the personal and professional experiences that led to the development of your interest in and commitment to a career in social work. Include the particular aspects of social work that you would like to pursue as a professional and why.
• The National Association of Social Worker’s (NASW) Code of Ethics is based on six ethical principles, also referred to as the core values.  Please discuss how all of these core values will inform your practice.
• Our MSW Program has two concentrations (Individuals and Families, and Community and Organizational Practice) and a crossover design.  Which concentration are you leaning toward, and why?  How will the concentration you did not choose inform your social work practice?
• NOTE : If you are applying to the Advanced Standing program you should indicate this by including a personal statement for entry into the advanced standing program within your personal statement. The personal statement should include information about how your BSW studies and field experience prepared you for the Advanced Standing Program.

Special Education (MA)

Speech-language pathology (ms).

• Video Submission: Create a video introducing yourself, tell us your undergraduate major and what university you attend (ed). Then, we would like you to teach us how to do something. Your topic does not have to be related to speech language pathology. It can be something you do everyday, a hobby, related to work experience or just anything you enjoy. We will be evaluating your ability to effectively communicate.

Student Affairs Administration (MA)

Technology (ms).

• Personal Statement (2-pages max): Describe your reasons for selecting the MS in Technology program at Appalachian State, and the goal(s) you hope to achieve through graduate study.

Test Score Waiver Requirement

• Cumulative GPA of 2.9 or higher in your bachelor's degree; or

Certificate Programs

Addiction counseling certificate, autism certificate.

• No additional supplemental materials required.

Birth through Kindergarten Graduate Certificate

Career & technical education graduate certificate.

• Questionnaire (submitted as part of the online application): provide your goals and reasons for applying to the program.

Climate Change Certificate

• Personal Statement (2-pages max): Describe the reasons you wish to pursue a graduate certificate in Geography at Appalachian State University.

College and University Teaching Certificate

Digital media literacy certificate, elementary education graduate certificate.

• Personal Statement (1-page): Describe  why you have chosen to pursue the Elementary Education Graduate Certificate at Appalachian State University.

Elementary Mathematics Education Certificate

Emotional and behavioral disorders graduate certificate.

• No additional supplemental materials needed.

Expressive Arts Therapy Certificate

French certificate.

• Writing Sample (7-pages max): Provide a writing sample in the target language is required. It should be analytical and demonstrate nuanced thinking and expository skills. The suggested length is 4-7 double-spaced pages.

Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies Certificate

Geographic information science certificate, health and physical education graduate certificate.

• Personal Statement (2-page max): Describe your current teaching situation (school where employed, subject and grade levels taught) and the reason you are seeking teacher licensure in Health and Physical Education.
• Proof of Employment: Please provide proof of employment in a K-12 health or physical education teaching position at a NC school. This can include a letter from the school or a Residency License Verification form completed by your school human resources department.

Instructional Technology Facilitation Certificate

• Proof of Licensure: Please provide a scanned copy of your current teaching license.

Instructional Technology Leadership Certificate

• Earned master's degree.

Literacy Education Certificate

Middle and secondary teaching certificate.

• Questionnaire (submitted as part of the online application): Provide your goals and reasons for applying to the program

Non-profit Administration Certificate

Nursing education certificate.

• Proof of RN License: Provide a scanned copy of your current, unrestricted RN license for North Carolina or a state participating in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) with North Carolina.

Online Design, Communication and Engagement Certificate

Planning certificate, public health nutrition practice certificate.

• Personal Statement (3 double-spaced pages max): Explain your educational and/or career background, specifically why you have chosen to apply to this program, and how this program will help you adress your career goals.

Rhetoric and Composition Certificate

School leadership certificate.

• Letters of Recommendation (2): At least one reference must be from your current school principal or immediate supervisor.
• Personal Statement: Describe your  personal philosophy of leadership, and explain its development, citing readings, resources, and other references that have influenced your thinking to this point. Explain how this program will further your career goals.

Sociology Certificate

• Personal Statement (2-pages max): Describe your relevant academic, work or volunteer experience, and your reasons for applying to the program.

Spanish Certificate

Special education graduate certificate.

• Personal Statement: Personal Statement (2-pages max): Explain why you are applying for a graduate certificate in special education, what teaching experience you have, and whether or not you are currently employed as a teacher.
• If you are applying under a residency program, please provide the contact information for your school administration and/or HR representative.
• If you are not currently employed as a teacher, please include contact information for a professional reference (current employer preferred) with whom the program can discuss your qualifications.

Special Education Leadership Graduate Certificate

Teaching emergent bilingual populations in the content areas certificate, dual degree, applied data analytics - interdisciplinary analytics concentration, ms and business administration - interdisciplinary business concentration, mba.

• Personal Statement (3-pages max): Discuss what has prompted your interest in obtaining this dual-degree, short/long term goals, and any extenuating circumstances that you would like to share with the admissions committee.
• cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in your bachelor's AND verified membership in the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society; OR

Applied Data Analytics - Interdisciplinary Concentration, MS and Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management, MA

Applied data analytics - interdisciplinary concentration, ms and public administration - not-for-profit management concentration, mpa.

• Personal Statement (3-pages max): Personal Statement (3-pages max): Discuss what has prompted your interest in obtaining this dual-degree, professional plans or ambitions once you have completed the program, competencies you would like to develop while in the program, short/long term goals, and any extenuating circumstances that you would like to share with the admissions committee.

Applied Data Analytics - Interdisciplinary Concentration, MS and Public Administration - Public Management Concentration, MPA

Applied data analytics - interdisciplinary concentration, ms and public administration - town, city and county management concentration, mpa, business administration - interdisciplinary business concentration, mba and higher education - community college and university leadership concentration, ma.

• Personal Statement (3-pages max): Discuss what has prompted your interest in obtaining this dual-degree, short/long term goals, and any extenuating circumstances that you would like to share with the admissions committee. 
• Essay (2-pages max): describe what you believe to be the most important issue facing higher education right now and why.

Business Administration - Interdisciplinary Business Concentration, MBA and Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management, MA

Business administration - interdisciplinary business concentration, mba and public administration - public management concentration, mpa, clinical mental health counseling, ma and music therapy, mmt, engineering physics - systems and laboratory automation concentration, ms and applied data analytics - interdisciplinary analytics concentration, ms.

• Personal Statement (2-pages max): Discuss what has prompted your interest in obtaining this dual-degree, short/long term goals, and any extenuating circumstances that you would like to share with the admissions committee.

Library Science (MLS) and Media, Technology, and Learning Design - Instructional Technology Specialist/K-12 Concentration (MA)

Mathematics - college teaching concentration, ma and engineering physics - systems and laboratory automation concentration, ms.

• Personal Statement (1-2 pages): describe your interest in our program, highlight your professional goals and explain how our program can help you achieve them
• Baccalaureate degree with a major in mathematics, statistics or mathematics education; AND

Political Science - American Government Concentration, MA and Applied Data Analytics - Interdisciplinary Concentration, MS

• Personal Statement (2-pages max): Discuss what has prompted your interest in obtaining this dual-degree, competencies you would like to develop while in the program,  your professional goals post completion of the program, and any extenuating circumstances that you would like to share with the admissions committee.

Political Science - Environmental Politics and Policy Analysis Concentration, MA and Applied Data Analytics - Interdisciplinary Concentration, MS

Political science - international relations/comparative politics concentration, ma and applied data analytics - interdisciplinary concentration, ms, technology - appropriate technology concentration, ms and engineering physics - systems and laboratory automation concentration, ms.

• Cumulative GPA of 2.9 or higher in your bachelor's

Doctoral Programs

Clinical psychology: (psyd).

• What experiences have prepared you for graduate study in clinical psychology
• How do your professional goals match our program, including our focus on serving clients in rural and/or underserved areas
• What personal characteristics do you possess that you believe are important to the practice of psychology
• How does your clinical orientation/philosophy fit with that of our specific faculty members
• How do your research interests fit with that of our faculty
• If you believe that any part of your application does not accurately reflect your academic skills or preparation for graduate school in psychology (e.g., GRE, GPA, etc.), please address this in your personal statement

Educational Leadership: (EdD)

• What motivates you to pursue a doctorate in educational leadership, and why at Appalachian?  At this point in your life/career, why is doctoral study worth the significant investment required
• What contemporary educational problems/issues do you care most about, given your context and standpoint as an educational leader
• What theories or research have influenced your thinking about those problems/issues?  How do you envision that your future scholarship could support change
• How prepared do you feel to be successful in a doctoral program, given the intense reading, thinking, reflection and writing expected
• How would your membership in our academic community support the vision and/or core values of Appalachian State University  
• What else would you like to tell us about your unique background, strengths, commitments, and preparation to pursue an EdD

Specialist Programs

School psychology: (ma/ssp).

• Questionnaire (submitted as part of the online application): provide your goals and reasons for applying to the program

 Test Score Waiver Requirement

• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in your bachelor's degree; or

First-year essay prompts

Common App has announced the 2024-2025 essay prompts.

Solutions center for first-year students

Solutions center for transfer students.

The Honors College

• Incoming First-Year Student

Applying to the Honors College

We encourage all incoming App State students interested in pursuing an Honors education to apply to join the Honors College! The Honors College at App State proudly practices holistic admissions. Admission to the Honors College is competitive, but please use that fact to motivate you to work hard on your application essays. Your GPA and class rank are important, but your goals, achievements, ambition, curiosity, service, resiliency, leadership, and commitment to make a difference mean even more.

After submitting the Common App, you will be invited via email to access your  MyMountaineer  portal where you can find a link to submit your Honors College essay. The Honors College will review your completed Common App, your App State interest statement, and your Honors College essay. Your task in completing these application materials is simple; write to: 

• Teach us who you are, what experiences, values, interests, and goals contribute to your unique identity.
• Tell us why you are uniquely-suited, would benefit, and want to pursue an Honors education;
• Show us your academic achievement, resiliency, motivation, curiosity, and potential
• Explain how you have and will contribute beyond yourself, engage with the community and world;
• Get us excited about working with you and supporting your education—your intellectual, personal, and professional development—over the next four years and beyond. 

Use your essays and your Common App activities list to provide evidence of your academic achievement, motivation, and potential as well as your engagement with the community and world: leadership, service in and/or beyond the family, co-curricular and/or extracurricular activities, creative endeavors, global awareness, resilience, and curiosity.

Please reach out to  Dr. Vicky Klima , Interim Dean of the Honors College, if you would like to talk about Honors education at App State, the Honors College, or the application process. We welcome such conversations.

We are delighted to announce that all incoming first-year Honors College students live together in our Honors Community in Cone Hall. We make exceptions for students who choose to live in another residential learning community, such as the Watauga Residential College or Appalachian Community of Education Scholars (ACES). 

Application Steps for First-Year Students

• Submit your Common Application by the November 1st  Early Action deadline. Students applying for Fall 2024 admission to App State and to the Honors College need not submit ACT or SAT scores; we are officially test-optional for this application cycle; there will be no benefit to submitting or to not submitting test scores this year.
• Watch your email inbox. Within two to three days of submitting your Common App, you will receive an email message explaining how to access your MyMountaineer Portal . Log into the portal and open the Scholarships and Honors College Essa y form. Complete and submit your Honors College Essay by November 15th at 11:59pm eastern time.

Key Dates and Deadlines

• November 1 :  Deadline to submit a First-Year application via Common App
• November 15 :   Deadline to submit Scholarship and Honors Essays through your MyMountaineer Portal
• March 29 :  Deadline to accept your offered admission, or ask for an extension up to  May 1.

How to Write Your College Essay: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide

Getting ready to start your college essay? Your essay is very important to your application — especially if you’re applying to selective colleges.

Become a stronger writer by reviewing your peers’ essays and get your essay reviewed as well for free.

We have regular livestreams during which we walk you through how to write your college essay and review essays live.

College Essay Basics

Just getting started on college essays? This section will guide you through how you should think about your college essays before you start.

• Why do essays matter in the college application process?
• What is a college application theme and how do you come up with one?
• How to format and structure your college essay

Before you move to the next section, make sure you understand:

How a college essay fits into your application

What a strong essay does for your chances

How to create an application theme

Learn the Types of College Essays

Next, let’s make sure you understand the different types of college essays. You’ll most likely be writing a Common App or Coalition App essay, and you can also be asked to write supplemental essays for each school. Each essay has a prompt asking a specific question. Each of these prompts falls into one of a few different types. Understanding the types will help you better answer the prompt and structure your essay.

• How to Write a Personal Statement That Wows Colleges
• Personal Statement Essay Examples
• How to Write a Stellar Extracurricular Activity Essay
• Extracurricular Essay Examples
• Tips for Writing a Diversity College Essay
• Diversity Essay Examples
• Tips for Writing a Standout Community Service Essay
• How to Write the “Why This Major” Essay
• How to Write a “Why This Major” Essay if You’re Undecided
• How to write the “Why This College” Essay
• How to Research a College to Write the “Why This College” Essay
• Why This College Essay Examples
• How to Write The Overcoming Challenges Essay
• Overcoming Challenges Essay Examples

Identify how each prompt fits into an essay type

What each type of essay is really asking of you

How to write each essay effectively

The Common App essay

Almost every student will write a Common App essay, which is why it’s important you get this right.

• How to Write the Common App Essay
• Successful Common App Essay Examples
• 5 Awesome College Essay Topics + Sample Essays
• 11 Cliché College Essay Topics + How to Fix Them

How to choose which Common App prompts to answer

How to write a successful Common App essay

What to avoid to stand out to admissions officers

Supplemental Essay Guides

Many schools, especially competitive ones, will ask you to write one or more supplemental essays. This allows a school to learn more about you and how you might fit into their culture.

These essays are extremely important in standing out. We’ve written guides for all the top schools. Follow the link below to find your school and read last year’s essay guides to give you a sense of the essay prompts. We’ll update these in August when schools release their prompts.

See last year’s supplemental essay guides to get a sense of the prompts for your schools.

Essay brainstorming and composition

Now that you’re starting to write your essay, let’s dive into the writing process. Below you’ll find our top articles on the craft of writing an amazing college essay.

• Where to Begin? 3 Personal Essay Brainstorming Exercises
• Creating the First Draft of Your College Application Essay
• How to Get the Perfect Hook for Your College Essay
• What If I Don’t Have Anything Interesting To Write About In My College Essay?
• 8 Do’s and Don’t for Crafting Your College Essay
• Stuck on Your College Essay? 8 Tips for Overcoming Writer’s Block

Understand how to write a great hook for your essay

Complete the first drafts of your essay

Editing and polishing your essay

Have a first draft ready? See our top editing tips below. Also, you may want to submit your essay to our free Essay Peer Review to get quick feedback and join a community of other students working on their essays.

• 11 Tips for Proofreading and Editing Your College Essay
• Getting Help with Your College Essay
• 5 DIY Tips for Editing Your College Essay
• How Long Should Your College Essay Be?
• Essential Grammar Rules for Your College Apps
• College Essay Checklist: Are You Ready to Submit?

Proofread and edited your essay.

Had someone else look through your essay — we recommend submitting it for a peer review.

Make sure your essay meets all requirements — consider signing up for a free account to view our per-prompt checklists to help you understand when you’re really ready to submit.

Advanced College Essay Techniques

Let’s take it one step further and see how we can make your college essay really stand out! We recommend reading through these posts when you have a draft to work with.

• 10 Guidelines for Highly Readable College Essays
• How to Use Literary Devices to Enhance Your Essay
• How to Develop a Personalized Metaphor for Your College Applications

Office of Admissions

Once you’re ready to apply, this is where it all begins. Prospective first-year students should submit an online application as soon as possible in their senior year of high school and by Nov. 1 for maximum scholarship consideration .

Three ways to apply

Select the option that is right for you, but only submit one application for admission. MSU has no preference for which type of application you submit. Applicants who apply through the MSU application will receive an applicant ID that allows them to save their progress and submit when they are ready.

Note about Common App:  MSU will start loading Common App applications in mid-August. You will receive an email with login instructions within 2-10 business days after your application is loaded.

MSU application

Apply through MSU.

Apply through the Common App.

Apply Coalition with Scoir

Application checklist

Here are the main things you need to have prepared to complete your application:

Have your official transcript(s) sent directly from each school or institution attended to MSU. This includes all your high school transcripts as well as transcripts from any dual enrollment or early/middle college programs. These can be sent through online services or by U.S. mail.

As a first-year student you do not have to officially declare your major yet, however you will be asked to select your major preference on the application. If you are undecided, select the "Exploratory preference" option.

Changing your major preference After submitting the application, fall first-year applicants have until May 1 to change their major preference in their account. Any student who applies, or is admitted, after May 1 cannot change their major preference until New Student Orientation (NSO).

As part of the undergraduate application for admission, each applicant is required to submit one essay (minimum 250 words, maximum 650 words) from the list of prompts. The essay may be considered as a positive factor to enhance admissibility, as well as for scholarship consideration. Here are the essay prompts for the 2025 application for admission:

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

First-year applicants

• How to apply
• Dates and deadlines
• Admission criteria
• ACT/SAT optional
• Advanced credits

Nationally Competitive Scholarships

Essay writing.

• Application Guidance

The essay(s) that you prepare for an application to a fellowship or scholarship program represents the most important piece of your entire application. The essay is where you convincingly state your case for why you should be awarded the fellowship. In your essay you must demonstrate critical thinking skills and creativity; you will give context and provide details of your accomplishments. You will reveal your ambitions and motivations and articulate how the fellowship will help you to achieve them. It will also give the readers a sense of who you are and what you believe—authenticity is key.

There are two types of essays that are most commonly requested as part of the application process for a fellowship or scholarship: personal statements and study/project proposals.

Time commitment You should expect to write many, many drafts of your essays. The first draft rarely resembles the final draft so be prepared to devote a lot of time and effort to the process to make your essays as compelling, well-defined and error-free as possible. The essays determine whether or not you make the candidate shortlist. Below are useful tips for preparing the two most commonly requested essays.

Essay Writing Strategies

Do your homework.

Your first step is to carefully read the instructions for the essay(s) provided by the fellowship organization. Do they have specific questions or items they want you to address, or are the instructions more general? Also, research the selection criteria for the award so that you can make sure to address how you and/or your project will contribute to the fellowship’s specific goals.

Getting Started

Getting started can be the most difficult part of the essay writing. It is best for you start the essays well in advance of the deadline, at least 2 to 3 months in advance, and sometimes 6 months to a year in advance. You will go through multiple drafts before the final product is ready for submission. A good way to start is simply to start writing. Begin by capturing thoughts on the page without worrying about sentence structure or organization. You will complete multiple, substantive revisions until you reach your final proposal, so begin by brainstorming to help you sort through your ideas.

As you progress, sort through your early ideas to determine which most support your overall message. Prune heavily. Your main idea should be captivating, compelling, and flow like a narrative. Experiment; try completely different versions of your essay. Don’t become committed to early on any one version, toss out drafts that aren’t working. Sharpen the message and winnow until you have one central theme, a central narrative story about yourself. Review and revise your ideas and content before you spend much time refining and polishing the writing. Try reading your essay out loud. A well-written essay has a nice rhythm and flow.

Style and Formatting

When writing your essay(s) it is important to keep your audience in mind. If you are writing an essay for a fellowship that is offered in a variety of fields, you should try to write intellectually but avoiding the use of jargon or acronyms that are not commonly known. Also, it is protocol to first spell out the complete wording (with the acronym in parentheses) before using the abbreviation later in the document. As a general rule, you should write to the “intelligent lay person.” However, some fellowships will only be offered for a specific field of study and in these cases you can write using more technical and specific language, as the reviewers will be specialists in the field.

Make sure that you carefully read the fellowship’s formatting instructions. Strictly adhere to page or word lengths and other formatting details such as font and margin size. Avoid technical disqualification by following these instructions with complete precision. Using bullet points or other formatting techniques (when permitted) can be useful to help you organize your main points, but avoid too much or overly complicated formatting. Also, many fellowship organizations require candidates to submit using online application systems which do not allow for a lot of personalized formatting (bullet points, graphics, etc.).

Ask for feedback

Ask several people for feedback on your essay. For the personal statement, you can ask friends and family as well as academic/personal mentors (anyone who knows you well) to ensure that it reflects your individuality, goals and values. Do they recognize you in the essay? Ask them if they can interpret a common theme or if they feel it is a good reflection of you. For the study/project proposal, or an essay that combines the two, you will want to ask your faculty advisors for feedback as well. They will help ensure that the main idea is clearly written and explained. They will check your essay for accuracy and to make sure it sounds academically compelling and interesting. Your readers will also help you to edit for typos, but at the end of the day it is always up to you to ensure that your work is error-free.

Once you have all the tips and advice from your reviewers you will need to revise again and again. Be open-minded and remember that they read your essays as would a committee, so if something does not make sense to your reviewers then it is likely that it will also confuse a selection committee. Reword and rework your essay until you are confident that the essay is a clear reflection of who you are and what you want to do.

Proofread over and over again. Go slowly to avoid missing common mistakes “study aboard” instead of “study abroad.” Given that your essay will have gone through many revisions it is possible to make small grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. Even the smallest mistake could eliminate your application for a fellowship. You should assume that the applications of other candidates will be error-free so yours must be presented with the same commitment to perfection.

Personal Statements

The personal statement presents a narrative of you as an individual. It will highlight your academic achievements, your personal goals and plans for the future. It will illustrate the choices you have made and the influences that have contributed to your path and which have led you to where you are now – applying for this fellowship opportunity. While revealing your authentic self, you must also convey your goals, plans, and history in a way that engages your readers and convinces them that you are a perfect fit for their program. Typically, these essays begin with a narrative hook, to draw the reader to your application, which is likely sitting in a large pile of other applications.

Beginning your personal statement There are many things that you should consider when you first sit down to write. A few examples include:

• Why are you applying for this fellowship?
• What experiences will you gain that will benefit you, personally or professionally.
• Why are you special and deserving of the award?
• What achievements have you made in your field, and how do these relate to the work that you will do on the fellowship?
• What influences have shaped you? Are they people, experiences or events in your life?
• What obstacles have you overcome, and how did you do this?
• What motivates you?
• Why did you go into this field or decide on a particular career path?
• Be attentive to the intent of the question and read carefully.

Give examples of your accomplishments and be clear. Do not over generalize; avoid trite statements. Consider one or two anecdotes that are specific to you and put your personality into words. Ensure that your essay is organized and follows a coherent structure. The personal statement will be a window into how you think. An essay that is incoherent or disorganized will give the impression that you have difficulty in forming your thoughts.

Writing Resources

Browse the resources below to gain a better understanding of how to write a competitive and authentic personal statement. 

• " Conceptualizing Your Personal Statement" by Grant Eustice  
• Essays that worked from John Hopkins University 
• Writing the Personal Statement , Purdue Owl Writing Lab 
• "Writing Scholarship Essays" from Kansas State University

Project Proposals

A study or project proposal essay will be required for fellowships that award funding for you to pursue a specific project that you propose to the funding organization. This may be in the form of a program of study or research or even a combination of the two. Some organizations will ask you to discuss a project in the same essay as a personal statement, but others will ask for this as a separate document. Either way a personal statement and a project proposal should connect and complement each other without restating what you have already written. Avoid large amounts of overlapping information also applies to any other material you will submit (letters of recommendation, etc.)

How to formulate a project idea? A project idea should be carefully conceived and researched. Begin by selecting a topic, one in which you are interested. What do you already know about it and what do you want to learn? Next narrow your topic to a specific aspect of the subject. Then form your topic into a question. The research question or thesis statement provides the focus for your research.

Discuss your plans with professors in the discipline to ensure that the idea is legitimate, valid, and appropriate to your skill level. If you have a particular location in mind where you would like to conduct the project, then you could research the resources available at that location (professors, libraries, archives, research centers, specialty programs) to determine what projects or research programs that already exist to help you to formulate your own project. Perhaps there is something that you could build upon, or join that would interest you and make a fine project.

Writing the project proposal essay Once you have determined a project or study plan you will need to convey answers in your essay to the following questions: Is it feasible given the time and resources that will be available? Do you have the necessary research skills, academic qualifications and prior experience to accomplish it? If so then give evidence of your preparation. If not, discuss how you will obtain these skills in time, or detail the accommodations you will make to ensure the project is workable. Will it contribute to the literature in the field, or have some benefit other than just to you? Is appropriate to the funding organization’s mission? What is your motivation for pursuing this project? Why in this particular setting at this university/research center or in this country?

The essay is a persuasive document. It should accurately express the methodology, location and plan that you will use to complete the project. It should clearly explain the results and outcomes. You may need to present a timeline and/or a budget that you determine is necessary for successful completion of the project. Your proposal (structure, language, etc.) should conform to the research conventions appropriate to your field. However, some projects will follow a structure determined by a specific program of study where the time and expenses required are built into the program. Either way it needs to be detailed in your essay. You also need to demonstrate that you have support for the project from the host institution, organization or an individual who will help you to facilitate the project’s completion. A letter from them on institutional letterhead that you can include with your fellowship application is a good way to show their support. Emails are convenient, but they can be easily forged so letters on official letterhead are the best. Often these can be signed, then scanned and transmitted electronically to you or directly to the fellowship organization.

Appalachian State University

Costs and Aid

An App State education is a valuable investment in your future. You want it. You deserve it. You can do this!

Financial Aid

Scholarships, keeping college affordable.

App State is consistently ranked among the best value colleges in America, meaning you can invest in your future for less. From interactive financial planning tools to information about aid, scholarships and student employment, learn how you can fund your App State education.

Undergraduate Costs

Estimated Costs for the 2024-2025 Academic Year Boone Campus Hickory Campus

In-State Residents

Tuition and Fees $8,135 Cost of Attendance details

Standard On-Campus Housing* $7,240 More options

Standard Meal Plan* $5,628 More options

Total Annual $21,003

Out-of-State Residents

Tuition and Fees $25,768 Cost of Attendance details

Total Annual $38,636

Any financial aid and scholarship assistance you receive can be applied to the total cost of attendance.

* Students enrolled at the Hickory campus are exempt from App State housing and meal plans.

Graduate Costs

Estimated costs for the 2024-2025 Academic Year Boone Campus

Tuition and Fees $5,954* Cost of Attendance details

Tuition and Fees $17,068* Cost of Attendance details

*Excludes Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Accounting, Master of Science in Applied Data Analytics and Master of Science in Athletic Training. Additional tuition and fee information can be found here.

App State Online Costs

Estimated costs for the 2024-2025 Academic Year Online Programs

Undergraduate In-State Residents

Tuition and Fees $5,459* Cost of Attendance details

Undergraduate Out-of-State Residents

Tuition and Fees $23,092* Cost of Attendance details

Graduate In-State Residents

Tuition and Fees $4,165** Cost of Attendance details

Graduate Out-of-State Residents

Tuition and Fees $15,279** Cost of Attendance details

* Undergraduate tuition is for full-time, 12-hour course loads. Additional tuition and fee information can be found here.

** Excludes Master of Business Administration and Master of Health Administration. Additional tuition and fee information can be found here.

Estimate Your Costs

Use the Net Price Calculator to estimate what it may cost to attend App State.

Your net price is determined by taking the cost of attendance (including tuition, fees, books, supplies, housing and other related expenses) and subtracting any grants and scholarships for which you may be eligible.

FAFSA Simplification

The FAFSA is undergoing a significant overhaul of the processes and systems used to award federal student aid. Starting with the 2024–25 year, families and students will experience a seamless filing experience, fewer barriers and expanded student eligibility for federal aid.

Spend less time on federal aid forms and more time thinking about college.

For approximately 66% of App State students, financial aid helps make education accessible. The financial aid process can be overwhelming for those who have never been through it, but it’s completely manageable if you know what to do.

How to apply for financial aid

1. apply for admission to app state.

• Visit Undergraduate Admissions or Graduate Admissions to learn about the application process, deadlines and requirements.

2. Complete the FAFSA

• Apply for financial aid using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form as early as possible! The 2024-25 FAFSA is available in December. We strongly recommend completing the FAFSA in January to ensure you are considered for all aid and scholarship opportunities. Use School Code 002906 to send your information to App State.
• Pro Tip: If you made a mistake, you can always log back in, update your FAFSA, and resubmit at any time.

3. Apply for scholarships

• Scholarships are available to new, transfer and returning students. And the best part is, these are considered “gift” aid; no repayment is needed! 

What happens next?

• When App State receives your FAFSA, the Office of Student Financial Aid and University Scholarships reviews your eligibility for financial aid, including federal and state grants, and then packages your aid together into a financial aid overview.
• Incoming students will receive an official financial aid award in March. Returning students will receive an official financial aid award at the end of spring semester. You must sign in to your AppalNet account to review and take action on your financial aid award.
• Bills are generated in July. You will be billed separately for fall and spring semesters. Learn more about payment options from our  Office of Student Accounts .
• Questions? The Office of Student Financial Aid and University Scholarships is here to help! Please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 828-262-2190 or schedule an appointment with our financial aid counselors.

Each year, App State awards an average of $25 million to students based on need, as well as academic and athletic achievement, and enrolls hundreds of students into Selective Academic Programs. Scholarships are available to new, transfer and continuing students. On average, about $4.9 million in outside aid is awarded to App State students annually.

Signature Scholarships (for first-year students)

• Chancellor's Scholars Full institutional costs (tuition, fees, room and board) and more
• Impact Scholars full in-state tuition, fees and more
• Dr. Willie C. Fleming Scholarship full in-state tuition, fees and more
• Beaver Scholars $10,000 annual scholarship
• W.H. Plemmons Leadership Scholars $2,000 annual scholarship and more
• How to apply: Complete an application for admission by Nov. 1 to be automatically considered for first-year scholarships. Additional essays for the Chancellor's Scholarship, health sciences scholarships and education scholarships must be completed by Nov. 15.

Appalachian Excellence Scholarship (for first-year students)

• Appalachian Excellence Scholarship is a merit-based scholarship for first-year students who enroll in the Fall.
• How to apply: Apply for admission by November 1 to be automatically considered.

ACCESS (for first-year students)

• ACCESS is a need-based program for first-year students in North Carolina. The scholarship supplements federal grants, state grants and scholarships to cover full institutional costs (tuition, fees, room and board) for up to four years (eight consecutive semesters).

Selective Academic Programs (for first-year students)

• The Honors College offers enriched academic, social, and leadership experiences for high-achieving and high-potential students.
• Watauga Residential College , a residential college for Appalachian’s most creative students to explore their passions both in and out of the classroom.
• Appalachian Community of Education Scholars (ACES) is a 4-year scholar program for future teachers focuses on mentoring, leadership, service and professional development. 
• How to apply: Complete an application for admission by Nov. 1 and complete a Signature Scholarship and Selective Academic Programs application by Nov. 15

College and Departmental Scholarships

• College and Departmental Scholarships are for incoming, current and transfer students, which include mentorship, research opportunities and select opportunities for experiential learning. Opportunities for undergraduate research, study abroad and networking vary by scholarship. Amounts range from $1,000 to $10,000.
• How to apply : Applications vary by scholarship.

Transfer Scholarships

• Transfer Scholarships are for incoming transfer students planning to enroll in the fall.
• How to apply : Complete your admission application by Feb. 1 to receive priority consideration. Students who apply after the priority deadline will be considered based on the availability of scholarship funds.

Graduate Scholarships and Assistantships

Several scholarships are available to graduate students. In addition, main campus students may apply for assistantships , and online and main campus students may contact their department to inquire about the availability of program-specific scholarships .

Grant assistance refers to funding that does not have to be repaid, and eligibility is typically determined on the basis of financial need. Appalachian administers a variety of grants to eligible students from federal, state, and institutional resources.

Unlike grants, loans must be paid back -- often with interest. Federal Direct Loans are funded by the federal government. Private educational loans are offered by a lender such as a bank, credit union or state agency.

Student Employment

Federal Work-Study provides part-time jobs for students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay educational expenses. Apply by completing the FAFSA . Once awarded, all available work-study jobs can be found on Handshake, App’s online career services portal.

If you want to work on campus but don’t qualify for federal work-study, you can apply for jobs through Student Employment.

Calculating Financial Need

Two types of federal financial aid programs:

How need-based aid is determined

The federal government reviews your FAFSA to estimate how much you and your family can afford to pay for college. This amount is your Student Aid Index (SAI). Your SAI determines eligibility for various award programs.

Meanwhile, App State determines the Cost of Attendance (COA), which is an estimate of how much it will cost to attend App State as full-time undergraduate or graduate student. Your COA includes indirect costs, which are expenses you will likely incur, but will not pay to the university. Indirect costs vary from student to student and may include off-campus housing, transportation to campus and elective expenses (clothing, food and personal hygiene items).

App State calculates Financial Need by subtracting the SAI from the COA. Your Financial Need is how much need-based aid you can get.

COA - SAI = Financial Need

Non-need based

How non-need-based aid is determined.

Non-need-based aid is financial aid that is not based on your SAI. What matters is your Cost of Attendance (COA) and how much other assistance you’ve been offered so far.

App State determines how much non-need-based aid you can get by subtracting any financial aid you’ve already been offered from the COA.

COA - Financial Aid Offered So Far = Eligibility for Non-need-based aid

received by App State students from outside scholarships each year

Of app state students relied on some form of financial aid (2021-22) 83% first- to second-year retention rate, bachelor’s degree recipients earn approx. $765,000 more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates, “best colleges for your money", "top" and "best value colleges", "best in the southeast", textbook rental program, questions let us help..

We know this is a lot to process. Financial aid and admission counselors are available to help you with your questions. Please don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Financial Aid Office

[email protected]

828-262-2190

Check out FAFSA's YouTube playlist of video tutorials.

University Scholarships

828-262-8453

Office of Admissions

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828-262-2120

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To complete your application, you must send an official high school transcript to our office . Your high school counselor can submit your transcript through Common App, Coalition App, slate.org or another secure sending service such as Naviance or Parchment. Students studying at participating public high schools in North Carolina can request official transcripts be sent to our office using CFNC .

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Learn what factors we take into consideration during application review and how to be a competitive first-year applicant. 

See how you may be provided college credit for courses and exams completed in high school using our transfer credit database. 

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You don’t need to wait for an official admission decision to submit your FAFSA , and we encourage students to apply as soon as possible .

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• Identify your academic interests – NC State offers 100+ majors and minors in a wide variety of academic fields.
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Appalachian State University

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State of the university address livestream thursday, aug. 29 3:00 p.m..

Watch a livestream of the State of the University Address meeting here on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 3 p.m.

Welcome everyone. I'm glad to see many of you here in person and thank those of you who are joining via the livestream. As we begin a new academic year together, I want to reiterate what I shared in April when I was appointed interim chancellor. I'm honored to serve our university in this current role. Appalachian State University has been my home for more than 20 years, and I extend my thanks to UNC System President Hans for the opportunity to continue to serve this institution.

Today, at this faculty and staff meeting that has in recent years become known as The State of the University Address, I'd like to begin by saying something I think we all know to be true about the state of our beloved university. We are a strong and resilient university celebrating 125 years of serving our region. Throughout this history, those who came before us established an enduring foundation, one that through the strength of our people and our community has risen to challenges, overcome adversity, and built upon our essential purpose to provide access to a high quality education, and we know there is work to be done.

Since April, we've been working on rebuilding and repairing trust internally and strengthening the university's relationships with the communities we serve. We are committed to regular communication and respectful dialogue, and we've been present in spaces with faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members to engage in that regular communication and dialogue. Members of this team and I have engaged with our academic department chairs and members of staff senate and faculty senate. We've had wonderful conversations with student groups and student government leadership and we have worked side by side with community leaders on issues of mutual interest and concern.

I'd like to take a moment now to recognize and thank Faculty Senate Chair, Jacqui Bergman, Staff Senate Chair, Samantha Williams, and Student Body President, Kathryn Long, for their leadership and providing input for today's meeting. Thank you for the conversations and advice you've shared and we hope there's more to come.

The leaders you will hear from today are just a few of the many who are committed to making sure our campus community is informed about key issues and initiatives that are having an effect on our university, our system, and our industry. Within every situation, there are of course constraints and opportunities. Recognizing this, we're committed to leveraging our strengths. In a few moments, you'll hear from Neva and J.J. about the, excuse me, collaboration between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs to help build a culture of civic literacy and respect for differences in thought, belief, and opinions within our campus community.

We're embracing the priorities put forth by President Hans of freedom, of expression, academic freedom, non-discrimination, and institutional neutrality, and as Neva, the historian on our leadership team, often reminds us, this is really nothing new for App State. In addition to strengthening our university community and its partnerships, we also recognize that our institution relies on financial resources to support our success. Comprehensive and persistent budget review is a practice I employed as a dean and provost to ensure strategic allocations and operational efficiencies, and I'm continuing this practice in my interim chancellor role. My leadership team and I have been doing a deep dive into the budget to make sure our institutional spending is in line with our mission. While we won't go deeply into the budget today, that's something we'll do in the spring during our strategic initiatives and budget presentations, I will share some high level information with you, which we've also shared over the summer with academic department chairs and the faculty senators at their retreat.

In addition to a high level look at the university budget, for the remainder of my time today, I'm also going to share key information with you about the newly formed Chancellor's Artificial Intelligence Task Force, advances in research, scholarship and creative endeavors, and advances in academic innovation with our Project Kitty Hawk partnership. I'll also share a few quick updates about UNC System Policy 300.8.5, and Faculty Club, and Staff Connect.

Then you'll hear from Neva Specht, Acting Provost, Doug Gillin, Director of Athletics. Will Sears, Interim Vice Chancellor of University Advancement, Troy Johnson, Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management, Hank Foreman, Vice Chancellor of External Affairs and Strategic Initiatives, J.J. Brown, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, and Neva, Hank and J.J. will also share updates from the Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, and Student Government Association.

The UNC System is refining campus specific performance metric goals and weights for the next cycle, which we'll use our 2022/23 performance as a baseline and cover the time periods 2024 through 2026. These new goals will take inflation into consideration, and overall, measures will continue to be focused on student success, including four year completion for first time full-time undergraduate students.

One of the key emerging issues Appalachian State University and many other academic institutions have been studying is the growth of artificial intelligence technologies and their implications for higher education. In 2023, as provost, I formed a steering committee on AI that included broad representation across App State's faculty and staff. This committee was charged with monitoring and exploring the effects of generative AI on the higher education landscape and developing guidelines related to teaching and learning, as well as research, scholarship and creative activities. An important outcome and extension of this work has been the development of the chancellor's artificial intelligence task force with a focus on how AI advancement and continued innovations can both enhance and challenge our teaching, research, service and administrative operations. This cross divisional team is chaired by Chief Information Officer, Keith Warner. Thank you, Keith.

The task force is creating guidance and recommendations for AI use across campus while also enhancing protective measures for institutional security and individual privacy. More specifically, the AI Task Force is responsible for developing guidance, providing a centralized set of policies, procedures, guidelines, and best practices related to all diverse areas of AI interest and utilization, including but not limited to academics, research and administrative domains, and recommendations addressing where AI might enhance service delivery, academic and research excellence, or other mission areas. Additionally, this group will identify potential privacy and security risks to university operations, resulting from the improper use of AI and recommend mitigation options to the University Risk Review Board.

When we are designated R2, we will no longer be considered a regional university. Instead, we'll be considered a national university. With this in mind, it's important to note we won't be changing overnight. Rather, we've been steadily evolving over time to arrive at this moment because of the dedication, involvement, and success of faculty in innovative and meaningful research, much of which has provided opportunities for student scholarship. We are still, at our core, a teaching institution, and that will always remain fundamental to our identity as a university. We will continue to evolve with the interests of our faculty and the needs of our region. We are dedicated to the exploration of additional graduate degrees in support of areas where App State strategically leads and where the market shows demand.

Beyond these areas of targeted expansion, we don't anticipate a broad or universal change in workload balance in the areas of teaching, research, creative activities and service. The financial implications of this shift are nuanced and a working group, led by Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, Dr. Christine Ogilvie Hendren, is engaged in a full assessment of all related factors for our university. Christine and the team in the Office of Research and Innovation have been working to ensure we are prepared institutionally for this classification change. Christine sits on the Chancellor's Cabinet where she provides strategic advice and consultation and is leading conversations at the leadership level about the research and creative activities enterprise. The great ideas being developed by our faculty and staff span a range of strengths and areas of expertise, including educational and training innovations, laboratory devices, and clean energy and agricultural technology concepts, just to name a few.

The Office of Research and Innovation team is also focusing on the work of connecting and coaching faculty on their paths to protecting and commercializing intellectual property that has the potential to generate value and financial impact for the state of North Carolina. Additionally, to further support innovative work beyond the startup phase, the Chancellor's Innovation Program is moving to a five-year funding model. We're increasing funding for big ideas that will have a lasting impact and become part of the fabric of the institution with an emphasis on ensuring faculty can develop self-sustaining funding models so their work and the associated funding will last beyond the startup phase.

For our part, we remain focused on our commitment to student success, which has been a hallmark of our university since its inception, and of course, compliance with the new policy. Upon receiving system guidance over the summer, we formed a cross-divisional working group to begin preparations for meeting the September 1st submission deadline.

Before I turn the microphone over to Neva, I recognize this is a State of the University address and there's a very important item of business underway: the search for Appalachian State University's next chancellor. Vice Chancellor Hank Foreman is the liaison to the system office which is facilitating the search process. He will provide an update during his remarks shortly.

With that, I'd like to invite my colleagues, who have joined me to help share important information with you today, to bring their reports. We'll begin with acting Provost, Neva Specht. Thank you.

Dr. Neva Specht:

You don't have to change the mic. Thank you, Heather, and good afternoon. Today I'll review the following topics: neutrality, civic literacy and the foundations of American democracy, brought from democracy initiatives, programmatic offerings at the Hickory Campus, and an update on efforts to reduce barriers to success for faculty and students.

First, I'd like to begin with a thank you to the AA leadership team during this transitional time, one went out and one came in. Big thanks to Jamie Parson for stepping into her new role. She brings key skills experience to the role of the Acting Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Policies, Development, Training and Academic Affairs, while also retaining her duties as one of the App State designated free speech officers. She's been focused on student success since she arrived at App State as a faculty member in the Department of Finance, Banking, and Insurance in 2021. Jamie will also oversee and review faculty policies and procedures, lead academic development and training, interpret the faculty handbook, and participate in primary faculty governance bodies, including the faculty senate.

Some key projects Jamie has underway are working on updating the faculty handbook and ASOPs to be in line with the recent changes to the UNC System policies on faculty annual workload requirements, teaching effectiveness, and PTR, as well as the communication plans to accompany each of these updates. She's also going to be working on developing professional development resources and workshops for mid-level Academic Affairs leaders, such as associate deans, chairs, and assistant chairs and program directors, and should be working with Academic Impressions to provide information to campus related to relevant professional development opportunities, such as navigating leadership changes, tools for starting a new faculty constructive dialogue, and general leadership development. You can follow the latest resources through the campus announce each month. Sounds like you'll be very busy, Jamie.

Thanks also to Mark Ginn. [inaudible 00:26:48]. Lots of great work over the summer to hone focus on student success and to reduce barriers for students and faculty and working closely with VC Troy Johnson's team in enrollment management. Mike McKenzie, for his work with PKH and the Hickory Campus, that's understating it, I think, and to Christine Hendren for her work on research and creative endeavors and innovation, and Chancellor mentioned some of this work that's been going on over the summer and before. Talana Bell for the amazing work on PKH, Hickory and much, much more, which would take the whole rest of the time, so thank you to her. And a big thank you to all their teams that support each one of them.

The civic literacy piece is the partnership that Chancellor referenced between student and Academic Affairs. We're partnering with Student Affairs on several projects, including a civil dialogue project that J.J. will talk about more in a few minutes.

We're working to refine how Hickory Campus aligns with the overall university mission so we can better serve, not only the community, but all those that work on that campus. We'll be refining some of our offerings and we'll begin thinking about some Hickory only majors. We want to make sure we have the majors that students want, as well as the ability to complete their gen ed and business core. While we won't have official enrollment numbers until after census day, which is tomorrow, our Hickory enrollment numbers are strong, and show potential for steady growth, how we'll serve those students and that community will be informed by our academic and research strategic plans.

I believe strongly in removing barriers to success, whether it's a bunch of bureaucratic paperwork, or systemic requirements that are standing between faculty, staff and students and their academic and career development and achievements. I've worked on this my entire career, and in Academic Affairs, we're continuing to identify and remove barriers like those that I've mentioned. At the top of my agenda is an implementation of the Academic Affairs strategic plan that all of us has worked on very hard over the last year. Many of you probably attended those listening sessions. I'm still gathering ideas about the best way to execute this and I would appreciate any input you may have.

I also want to echo the commitment from the Chancellor to develop methods and avenues for collaborative communication. Jamie Parson is working on ensuring faculty have clear guidance and understanding on policy and any of the changes to policy. Workload, for example, post-tenure reviews, so that you as a faculty can focus on teaching, research, and creative endeavors and service.

One example is a great partnership between Academic Affairs and athletics. This is an ongoing collaboration with a commitment to student success that has led to 24 consecutive semesters of student athletes having a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Other examples, which we'll review, refine, and use as exemplars, are internship programs and other opportunities such as the Breakthrough Physical Therapy Partnership, that's right in this building, that has grown over the last two years and offered opportunities for student athletes and students who are interested in rehab and PT. Career pathways and NACE competencies are being discussed in classes through the Career Center, and it's a great partnership that helps us work together to ensure students are engaged in thinking about careers as they move through their academic experiences.

Another example of this are recent changes to what many of you have known over the years as OIED. We've streamlined the purpose of this unit and renamed it the Office of International Programs, OIP, you might want to jot that down, to better reflect its purpose. Dr. Jeff Cohen has been hired as the new Assistant Vice Provost for International Programs. Jeff is also on the faculty in the Department of Government and Justice Studies. The department is now strongly focused on ensuring faculty are able to incorporate global content into their teaching, research, and service, ensuring that faculty and students have the support they need to lead and participate in study abroad opportunities. I know there have been some challenges with procedures related to faculty leading overseas trips, and while we do need to ensure faculty are adequately prepared and have the appropriate training and insurance coverage, we don't need to have excessive complexities preventing overseas travel. I thought that'd be good.

I'll close my remarks today with a thank you to Jacqui Bergman. Where's Jacqui? Oh, thank you, serving as the faculty senate chair for her leadership, and I just think Jacqui has asked me to share three quick points on her behalf. As you can see, we're working on similar issues, so I'll read her statements for her. They'll sound better. It was her, but I'm just going to go ahead and read them. Is that okay? Okay.

The first is regarding faculty salaries. The Senate was pleased to see Chancellor Norris's message to campus that funds have been identified for faculty merit increases this year. The Senate will certainly continue to work from the last year with Academic Affairs on increasing faculty salaries relative to our peers and on addressing salary compression on our campus.

Her second point Jacqui asked me to share is regarding UNC policy 300.8.5. It has been made clear that this policy does not impact faculty teaching, research, or creative activity. Academic freedom remains protected. However, the Senate will continue to work with the administration in understanding the full impact of this policy on our faculty, staff and students, and I'll look forward to that.

Just a quick reminder that Faculty Senate meets once each month during the academic year, typically on the first Monday of the month. Each academic department has a representative and you can find meeting schedules, minutes and information about your representative on the Faculty Senate website.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to speaking with you at the reception following the meeting.

Doug Gillin:

Interesting. I won't have to raise the microphone either, just keep it in this spot. Good afternoon, my name's Doug Gillin, I serve as director of athletics. Thankful to be here today and share about how the athletics department support and serve in our great university. As Dr. Specht noted, we are proud of our student athletes for impressive academic accomplishments. Our first and foremost mission is to provide our athletes with a world-class education and that will lead them to graduation.

The athletic department enriches the App State experience for so many, including students, faculty and staff, the local community, alumni, and Mountaineer fans everywhere. Athletics has helped elevate the brand and facilitate the growth of our university. Opportunities such as the 2022 visit from ESPN's College Game Day, men's basketball appearance in the 2021 NCAA tournament, and historical wins have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in earned media value over the last few years.

We're in the midst of major college shifts in the world of college athletics, with NCAA rule changes and lawsuit settlements, there's a lot going on. These are shaping the way we do business and serve our student athletes. Since 2021, student athletes have been allowed to benefit from their name, image, and likeness. We are supportive of that. We believe they always should have been. If you've had the opportunity to go to Rivers Street Alehouse and have the Joey Aguilar wings, that's a perfect example of how a student athlete can benefit from their name, image, and likeness. It has also brought challenges that at App State, we've been able to prudently navigate to support our student athletes and continue operating our athletics department at a high, high level. In recent months, there's been lawsuits that could have financial implications for every Division I institution. At App State, we have a solid plan for how to continue to fundraise and develop resources and to remain competitive.

On the horizon, there are much needed guidelines and guardrails that have come out of the house settlement. If you haven't heard about that and you want to do some light reading, it's very interesting. Once it's settled, it will impact how we handle roster sizes and additional student athlete opportunities for enhancement. Not requirements, they're opportunities, and we're working on a three to five-year plan to continue to raise resources to remain competitive, as I mentioned.

The App State brand is incredibly strong, being a member of the 14 institution Sun Belt Conference is providing nationally relevant experiences for our students, our teams, and our student athletes. It's currently a top five conference in America. When I arrived here in 2015, it was a top 10 conference in America, so it's continuing to excel. I'm proud that we've balanced our budget every year since I've arrived in 2015. Yearly, we generate more revenue from ticket sales, [inaudible 00:39:24], philanthropic donations than any school in the Sun Belt Conference. With rising costs and the shifting landscape of college athletics, we will continue to fundraise and be innovative in our approach to ensure that we can continue to offer a world-class student opportunity for all of our student athletes and for our campus community for years to come. Thank you for your time today.

Will Sears:

I need a clicker, but I don't need to move the mic, right?

So I'm Will Sears. For those of you I haven't met, welcome. Look forward to presenting my five minutes over here. I was not nervous about doing this until I saw Dr. Harry Davis and it reminded me of 1993, sitting in his class, and that didn't end well for me. So anyway, it's great to see you, Dr. Davis.

So what I hope to do with a few slides is talk to you about the Advancement Division, give you an update on what we do and how we collaborate across this campus and in our community. So I'll start with just our priorities. Priorities, priorities.

All right, so another way to look at things. I want to give you a five-year history. Everybody says, "Well, how much money do you raise and where does it all go?" So this pie chart right here gives you an example of the past five-year averages. So academics, it's about 59%. Everybody's really proud of App Summer, and we're just coming off of App Summer, thank you Linda. So App Summer at the Turchin Center, that's such a avenue for us to connect with donors over the summer, that's 5%, and then athletics is 35%, another great opportunity for us to engage donors and interact with donors to take them along in the giving process. So I thought that would be interesting to show.

So how does the dollars break down a little bit? This is 2024 data. Scholarships, $16 million in 2024 scholarship funding. It's incredible. Now some of that would've gone into endowment, so those all don't go directly to students. If it goes to an endowment, it's a percentage payout. $13 million in program support. So if you think about program support, that could be travel for faculty, technology in the classroom, different things like that would fall into that program bucket.

Here we go. Let me just, so this is a very busy slide, but I've got a lot on here I want to walk through. If you go counterclockwise, up in the upper left-hand corner, 1200 thank you notes. So that sounds like, okay, 1200 thank you notes. Think about that. Hats off to every scholarship coordinator in this room and every scholarship coordinator in these colleges. They look at these thank you notes, our stewardship office looks at those thank you notes, and then they go to donors. That's a tremendous touch point, a lot of donors love thank you notes, but this is a process that has to happen with a lot of collaboration, so thank you.

We move across, 25 different alumni engagement chapters. So the Alumni Engagement Office, they average a program every four days. Every four days they're doing a program to engage and network with our 140,000 alumni, so the hats off to them for their work.

Moving on over to 45,000. This is something I need you to make note of. We update banner records. So if you're in your office or someone on your team has a change in life, marital status, email address, they move, we need to update the banner records. So let us know. We updated 45,000 banner records last year, which is incredible.

Our office also processes the gifts. So if you look, 29,000 gift process last year, it's a lot of gifts to process. Oftentimes you're asked, what's the size of the Appalachian State Foundation Endowment? So I thought I would just present that to this group. It's $172 million.

And then finally, I need you to take note of the iBackAPP date. March 6th this year is the iBackAPP date. iBackAPP is the day we celebrate Appalachian, we give to Appalachian, and a few years ago it was opened up to any fund. So if your passion is AppKIDS, make a note on your calendar to give to AppKIDS on iBackAPP Day. If your passion is fine and applied arts, vet tech, make a note to give to that area that day. If your passion is athletics or golf, make a note to give and celebrate Appalachian and share that story that day. So please make a note of that day.

Finally, I'm going to end with a, this is a story about a donor we wrote about a couple of weeks ago. This is Jeff and Liz Mick, and let just walk through it, top to bottom. So Jeff and Liz Mick gave on iBackAPP Day. We were talking on the phone one night and their dog, Buddy Mick, passed away, and we had shared some tears and they said, "We'd like to honor Buddy." So I called Mike and we had lunch with the Micks and we talked about the vet tech program. And what the vet tech students have to do is they have to do externships, and there's no funding for externships, but they need to do this with large animals.

So this year we had the first ever Buddy Mick Vet Tech Program, where they gave $30,000 and they underwrote this program. The Micks also gave, they gave generous scholarships to non-revenue sports. This is them with the women's golf team. Two women's golfers, two men's golfers, are underwritten by the Micks. Last slide here, they also have a first generation college student scholarship in the college of business.

I bring up the Mick's story just so y'all know that if someone ever tells you, "Oh, a development officer went and had dinner with somebody and they gave a million dollars, that development officer's good," I would submit to you, no. The reason these gifts happen, we try to be pretty good, but the reason they take the lunch or take the dinner and the reason this happens is because of great interactions in the classroom. When Liz was in the classroom, she had great experience. When Jeff and Liz were recruiting students, they got great students from Appalachian State. And then when they came back and went to a golf match or went to a football game, they had great interactions. And when we're all doing this together, then the donors are having great interactions, then they take our appointments and they write a check back in order to impact our future and impact the future of our students.

So I felt compelled to share that story because there's many of them like that, but they don't just give to one area. When donors give to multiple areas, we all win. So on behalf of University Advancement, I can't thank y'all enough. We're all trying to row in the same direction. I appreciate Heather Norris giving me this opportunity and if we can help with anything, just let us know. Thank you.

Dr. Troy Johnson:

It is great to see all of you today. Thank you, Dr. Norris, for your leadership and allowing us this time to share with this group. Those of you who have worked with me know by now how passionate I am about being sure that our university's critical role in helping students see their dreams come true is realized. In the next few minutes, I'm going to tell you a little bit about how that happens, tell you what has happened, and then give you some insights into what's about to happen in the enrollment landscape. And so first of all, as a community member of ours, I ask that you consider where you can make the best effect on our broad strategy for achieving enrollment success, which is also, remember, our financial success.

Second, focusing not only on recruiting students, but on retaining them. And then as I tell parents and students when I get to meet with them, I'm not recruiting students, I'm recruiting graduates, and that our graduation rates stay strong.

Also, leveraging data technology and research and being data informed in our efforts.

Leveraging marketing and messaging, being excellent with promotion and compelling recruitment and retention techniques.

And then finally, perhaps the most fun of all, and I get to see some amazing outcomes all the time, bringing the best of App in terms of creativity, innovation, so that we can address challenges like the tremendous financial aid FAFSA challenges this year. But not only address challenges, but to capitalize on opportunities. For example, Project Kitty Hawk.

But let me shift into now what has happened. Let's review our enrollment highlights. And an apropos phrase that describes our current enrollment is strong and steady. While we won't have official enrollment numbers for a few more days, thanks to our carefully managed enrollment efforts, our total enrollment will remain strong for this academic year. Student success rates measured by student retention and graduation rates remain strong and some of the highest in the nation.

New student enrollment has remained strong. We'll see a very good year for graduate enrollment. Thanks to academic programs that are very compelling in the market, and to local decisions that were made to remove barriers in admissions and enrollment. First year in transfer enrollment was a work of great effort, even up through last week, maybe some today still. This is largely due to what's been an unprecedented year in federal difficulties with financial aid. You see, never in the history of Title IV federal aid has there been a year like the one we are going through right now. But we've risen to the challenge and we expect to see very good numbers for first year in transfer student classes.

Our purposeful work also resulted in healthy enrollments for online programs, including Project Kitty, Hawk, as well as our Hickory enrollments. If you visit Hickory and our campus there, you'll now experience what you see here in Boone in some classroom buildings, which is busyness, fullness. It is absolutely great to see.

This concludes our meeting today, and I hope those of you who joined us in person will stay for the reception which offers a great opportunity to continue conversations and discuss the information we've presented for you today. Thank you.

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Interim Chancellor Heather Norris shares a welcome message to students, faculty and staff on the first day of classes for the 2024-25 academic year.

Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,

On May 23, 2024, the UNC System Board of Governors voted to repeal Policy 300.8.5 in the UNC Policy Manual — which was called the Policy on Diversity and Inclusion Within the University of North Carolina — and replace it with a new policy, titled Equality Within the University of North Carolina .

It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Neva J. Specht has agreed to accept the position of acting provost while I serve in the position of interim chancellor.

Dr. Specht is a well-known and widely respected member of the Academic Affairs leadership team, who was appointed to the position of senior vice provost of faculty policies, development and training in the Academic Affairs division in October 2021.

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Dr. Heather Hulburt Norris became Appalachian State University’s ninth leader on April 19, 2024. She brings more than two decades of academic leadership, vision and expertise to the role, after having served as App State’s provost and executive vice chancellor since May 2021. She fulfilled that role in an interim capacity beginning in February 2020. Her career has been characterized by her strong, collaborative leadership and service to both App State and the greater community

Learn more about Interim Chancellor Norris

Copyright 2024 Appalachian State University . All rights reserved.

Appalachian State University is committed to providing equal opportunity in education and employment to all applicants, students, and employees. The university does not discriminate in access to its educational programs and activities, or with respect to hiring or the terms and conditions of employment, on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity and expression, political affiliation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information or sexual orientation. The university actively promotes diversity among students and employees.

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Mailing address: Office of the Chancellor - ASU Box 32002 - Boone, NC 28608 Physical address: Office of the Chancellor - 438 Academy St. - B.B. Dougherty Administration Building - Boone, NC 28608 Telephone: 828-262-2040 Email: [email protected]

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Anonymous $10M Donor Seeks to Remove Financial Barriers for Future Educators and Health Care Professionals Enrolled at Salem State

A $10 million gift to Salem State University from an anonymous donor was announced today to support scholarships that address the unmet need for students in the Maguire Meservey College of Health and Human Services and the McKeown School of Education.

The gift establishes the Clipper Scholarship and provides significant support to students who are just over the cusp of Pell-eligibility and often left out of federal and state aid programs. The investment seeks to meet students where they are and helps fund the cost of attendance, which includes tuition, room and board, books, meal plans, etc.

“With our long history of preparing front-line workers who go on to serve the Commonwealth in healthcare, education and public service-related fields, a gift of this magnitude will help us maximize student potential by lessening their financial burden and helping them graduate on time,” Sami Ansari PhD, dean of Salem State’s Maguire Meservey College of Health and Human Services said. “I am grateful that the university will be able to provide more opportunities to our accomplished students who will one day contribute to the well-being of the public.”

The gift was made in honor of the donor’s parents, who graduated from the university in the 1950s. Reflecting on his own academic journey, the donor empathizes with those who struggle with the financial constraints in obtaining a quality education and says that we must do better as a society to help students with unmet need, sharing that “these students are the future of our country.”

“Salem State’s founding principle, seeing education as the great equalizer, is as important today as it’s ever been,” Cheryl Webster, vice president of advancement and executive director of the Salem State University Alumni Association and Foundation, Inc. said. “Such extraordinary acts of philanthropy allow us to further invest in students as they build toward personal and professional success.”

“This gift, which is already having an immediate impact this fall semester, provides flexible support for students just above Pell-eligibility with approximately $11,000 in unmet need,” Vice President of Student Success Bonnie Galinski said. “Filling that gap allows even more Vikings to pursue their dreams and eventually graduate with minimal educational debt. Having the ability to consistently award significant funding to students throughout their academic career is life changing for not only our student Vikings but also their families.”

The gift represents a huge step forward for Salem State, improving the university’s position as a leading higher education institution committed to helping students meet moments of opportunity in an evolving landscape.

“Through our $75 million Meet the Moment ™ campaign, we have worked hard to ramp up efforts to provide significant support for scholarships so that deserving students can take advantage of their Salem State education,” Salem State University President John D. Keenan said. “Private philanthropy is critical to maintaining a rigorous, collaborative learning environment that encourages students to develop critical thinking skills so that they can have real societal impact. Transformative gifts of this stature help us raise our academic profile while ensuring students reach their fullest potential.”

“We are so proud to partner with donors who share our commitment to Viking student success,” Webster said.

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