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Leap Year Fellows
High school seniors, or recent high school graduates, who want to go college, have an interest in working with kids, and want to give back to the community should apply to Leap Year! Applicants should also have an interest in receiving tutoring, mentorship, career advice, and want to join a positive community of their peers.
Yes! Leap Year is a paid, professional fellowship program for your first year of college. Fellows earn a monthly stipend of $725 (paid out bi-monthly and subject to taxes). Given that Leap Year is a fellowship program, we expect all Fellows to behave professionally during work hours. Leap Year views professionalism as being on time to work everyday, communicating respectfully to coworkers and managers, following our policies, having a positive attitude and always giving your best effort. Fellows with frequent attendance or professionalism issues will be subject to fines. Leap Year does have bonus opportunities to recognize Fellows who are going above and beyond. Another perk of the program is that Fellows receive paid vacation days! During program vacations (including Thanksgiving and Winter break), Fellows receive the same salary.
Leap Year is a full-time paid program operating Monday – Friday 8:30am – 4:00pm.The program begins with orientation in August. During the first few weeks, Fellows will go through training to be a successful college student, a reading coach, and a positive Leap Year employee. Leap Year lasts the entire school year during which Fellows will take two classes a semester at GSU Perimeter. At the end of the school year, Fellows will graduate from the program in May.
Leap Year Fellows are expected to be at work from about 8:30am – 4:00pm. Watch our Day in a Leap Year Fellow’s Life video for more insight into this program! https://theleapyear.org/lyf-typical-day/
Mornings – Monday through Friday: Fellows will work as Teacher’s helpers and lead a 20 minute small group reading lessons in a local Atlanta Public Elementary School.
Afternoons – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: Fellows will be taken back to our office located at Pittsburgh Yards for college tutoring and professional development.
Afternoons – Tuesday and Thursday: Fellows will be taken to GSU Decatur for their class, as well as have time to go to the gym, explore campus, study, and have fun!
Leap Year Fellows only take two classes per semester at Georgia State University Perimeter’s Decatur Campus. Specifically, Fellows take English 1101 in the Fall semester, and Math 1001/1111 and English 1102 in the Spring semester. Fellows will be taking one additional class in the Fall semester. Fellows take these classes together so that they have built-in support and study-buddies in their first college classes. Fellows only take two classes per semester because they need the extra time to serve as reading coaches at elementary schools and get tutoring and career mentorship. Leap Year Fellows agree to only taking these classes during our yearlong program- Fellows cannot add additional classes to their schedule during their time in Leap Year. If you are an applicant who has already taken English 1101, Math 1001, or Math 1111, you do not qualify for the Leap Year program.
While you are a Leap Year Fellow, your classes will be free to you! If you qualify for the Pell Grant, which is a federal grant, then the government will send those funds straight to your school to pay for your class tuition and fees. If you do not qualify for the Pell Grant, or your Pell Grant does not cover all of your tuition and fees, then Leap Year will pay for your class!
Please visit https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/grants/pell for more information on the Pell Grant!
Leap Year provides many resources to ensure that our fellows are supported and successful students. These resources include a monthly stipend, free transportation to/from Five Points station, mentorship from corporate professionals, assistance applying to colleges, support in applying to scholarships, fun trips, and much more!
Leap Year Fellows are responsible for paying for their own MARTA cards (or transportation to/from Five Points Station), all books, MyMathLab, calculators, or any materials required by their GSU professors. Many Fellows receive the Pell grant, which often provides Fellows a refund to help them pay for class materials.
Leap Year understands that not every Fellow has access to reliable transportation, so to make this program accessible to everyone, we offer three transportation options!
1. Fellows can be picked up each morning at our office, located at Pittsburgh Yards, and be shuttled to their Elementary School for work, GSU for class, and to our office for college tutoring!
2. Fellows can meet directly at their Elementary School and be shuttled to GSU for class or back to the office for college tutoring, or drive themselves!
3. Fellows can be picked up at the Five Points MARTA Station each morning and be shuttled to their Elementary School for work, GSU for class, and college tutoring! Note: Fellows will need to pay for their own transportation to the Five Points MARTA Station.
At the end of each day, Leap Year offers a shuttle that will drop Fellows off at the Five Points MARTA Station as well.
No, Leap Year Fellows take classes at Georgia State University’s Decatur Campus, which does not provide dorms or housing. Fellows must secure their own, reliable housing options to participate in the program. We encourage Fellows to
No, you do not! One perk of joining Leap Year is that you can learn what it’s like to be a GSU student and decide if you want to continue to study there or somewhere else after. Also, Leap Year will help you submit (and pay for) applications to other colleges so that you have options. Leap Year alumni have gone on to enroll at colleges like Oglethorpe, Georgia Gwinnett, and even Central Michigan University!
Yes! You will keep your Achieve Atlanta Scholarship which you can defer until after you graduate from the Leap Year Fellowship.
Leap Year recommends Fellows stay at GSU Perimeter an additional year after the program because of their strong academic program and affordability (many can earn an Associates degree debt free!). However, if a student chooses to transfer to another institution, Leap Year will help students submit and pay for three applications to other schools, and/or the GSU downtown campus. Please be aware that some students may ne required to have completed 30 college credit hours in order to successfully transfer to the downtown campus or a different university.
We’re excited to have you join the next Leap Year Fellow cohort! Once you have been accepted, our team will reach out to you to inform you of the required next steps in the enrollment process. It is important to complete all required next steps, including but not limited to attending a Parent Meeting, applying to GSU Perimeter (Decatur), completing FAFSA, etc. Enrolled Fellows must complete all enrollment steps in a timely manner be responsive to communication from Leap Year staff (via text and/or email). Failure to communicate and/or complete the required next steps, will put you at risk of being unenrolled from the program and placed on the waitlist. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us via email: recruiter@theleapyear.org
We are so excited to know that you are interested in the Leap Year Program. Leap Year is currently experiencing a high volume of interest this year and is trying our best to keep students informed of their acceptance status. Students who have been placed on the waitlist can expect acceptance on a rolling basis based on availability. Should there be any spots available the student will be notified as soon as possible. If you have any questions or concerns about your application status please reach out to us at: recruiter@theleapyear.org
While you don’t need test scores to apply to the Leap Year Program, students who have been accepted and enrolled for both Leap Year and GA State Perimeter , should expect to take the accuplacer test for GA State Perimeter.
