Applicants for the BCC Continuing Education and Workforce Development scholarship must be registered for a course that consists of at least 96 hours of training and leads to an industry recognized credential.

Applicants for this scholarship must be enrolled in a Continuing Education Cosmetology course that leads to an industry credential.

To be considered for this scholarship a student must:

• Be enrolled or enrolling in a Workforce Continuing Education (WCE) course(s)/pathways offered for 96 hours or more and leading to a state or industry-recognized credential. 
• Be a resident of North Carolina. Residency Determination Services (RDS) is not required for WCE students to determine state residency. 
• Reside in a qualifying county as determined by the Golden LEAF Foundation. A student who resides in an eligible county upon initial award will remain eligible if they move out of the county after the initial award was made and will be eligible for a renewal award, if awarded for the year, as long as the student’s place of residence is within the state of North Carolina. 

To be considered for this scholarship funded by the State Employee Credit Union a student must:

• Complete course work supported by this scholarship by the end of the program year (August 31, 2026)
• Be a North Carolina resident
• Be enrolled (or enrolling in) a course(s) leading to a NC Workforce Credential at the Essential or Career Level, or that has been approved by NCCCS
• Be part of one of the following groups:
  • unemployed or underemployed
  • member of the NC National Guard
  • military veteran and spouses
  • underserved populations in a specific workforce sector or area
• Not be a director, employee, or family member of an employee of the SECU or SECU Foundation

At a minimum, eligible students applying for this grant must be:

• A resident of North Carolina as outlined in G.S. 116-143.1 and following the coordinated and centralized residency determination process admistered by the State Education Assistance Authority known as NC Residency Determination Service (RDS)
• A student enrolling in Workforce Continuing Education (WCE) pathways/course(s) leading to a NC Workforce Credential identified as either Essential or Career Level. These pathways may consist of a single WCE course or a series of courses. The list of eligible credentials is available here.