Since the Governor’s School’s founding in 1963, over 35,000 North Carolinians have been selected to participate in the program. Each summer, Governor’s School welcomes over 650 of the brightest young minds from across the state, with 95 or more of the State’s 100 counties typically represented.  More than 70% of Governor’s School alumni live, work and contribute their talents in the state after completing the program.

HIGH DEMAND BY STUDENTS: Governor’s School continues to be in high demand throughout the state. Nearly 1,800 students were nominated in fall 2016, even with imposed nomination limits. Current funding allows selection of only around 37% of nominees.

INCLUSIVE OF STEM, ARTS AND LANGUAGES – Governor’s School brings hundreds of North Carolina’s brightest and most talented students in ten different disciplines (academics, including STEM fields and humanities, plus arts and foreign languages) to create a specialized and yet integrated educational experience like no other.

EXCELLENT RESULTS - Student satisfaction is consistently outstanding. Each year, end-of-session surveys result in 96+% of students stating Governor's School was a worthwhile experience and they would recommend friends to apply and attend.

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND FULL REPRESENTATION - With two private colleges as hosts, Governor’s School has always been a ‘public-private partnership’ and serves students from North Carolina public school systems, federal schools, charter schools and private schools. Its students regularly represent nearly all 100 North Carolina counties.

LOW ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS - Administrative costs (e.g., informational meetings, auditions, student selection, etc.) are remarkably low at just 4% of the current budget. Increased funding would be overwhelmingly dedicated to serving more students and eliminating tuition for a program they have already earned.

REMARKABLE AFFORDABILITY - The Governor’s School is an incredibly efficient user of public funds. Similar private high-level residential summer programs have much greater expenses, with tuition beginning at an average of $1,000 per week. Also, other state-funded residential educational programs are funded at much higher per-student per-week levels and have much greater administrative costs. Current funding levels = <$1,200 per student (just $217 per week; $31 per day) for a program that strives to educate, supervise, house and feed 670 students for five and one-half weeks. Faculty and staff are not paid at a high rate and have not had a pay increase in at least five years.

NUMBER OF STUDENTS BELOW HISTORIC NORMS - Governor’s School served 800 students for six weeks each summer when there was fuller funding; reduced funds necessitated decreasing the number of students who could be selected and the length of the program (currently around 670 per year). Because of this and North Carolina’s increasing population numbers, it is more difficult than ever for a highly-achieving student to have the opportunity to attend.