Brinkley-Lane Scholars
ECU Honors College welcomes 20 new scholars
2029 Cohort
May 21, 2025
Twenty students will step onto East Carolina University’s campus this fall as the next cohort of Brinkley-Lane Scholars.
Housed in the Honors College, the Brinkley-Lane Scholars is the most prestigious undergraduate award program offered at ECU. The four-year merit scholarship recognizes outstanding academic performance, commitment to community engagement and strong leadership skills. Recipients receive a fully funded education, covering the cost of tuition, fees, room and board for both in-state and out-of-state students, and high impact experiences, as well as the ability to explore the world with a $5,000 study abroad stipend. Scholars benefit from access to an array of leadership opportunities, research with award-winning faculty and a robust alumni network.
This year’s Brinkley-Lane Scholars hail from eight North Carolina counties as well as Arkansas and Ghana, and plan to study majors ranging from business and nursing to construction management and chemistry. Beyond the classroom, these students bring a wealth of experience to ECU including as high school varsity athletes, national poetry contest winners, researchers at medical schools and published authors.
The competitive selection process involved around 150 ECU faculty and staff and multiple rounds of review. Fifty-five finalists were selected from nearly 900 applications and were invited to visit ECU’s campus in February for Selection Sunday to interview for the final 20 spots. This event showcased everything ECU and the program has to offer and allowed them to connect with current students, alumni, faculty and friends of the program.
Learn more about the program on the Brinkley-Lane Scholars program website.
Photos by Rhett Butler