Requirements for Applicants

Applicants for aid from this fund should come by the Buncombe Baptist Association office and pick up an application form.

Each applicant shall be a graduate of a school accredited by the regional accreditation association of colleges and universities with a B.S., B.A., or equivalent degree.

Each applicant shall be a member of a church affiliated with the Buncombe Baptist Association or shall be a member of other churches which John G. Hicks served as pastor. These churches being Stallings Memorial Baptist Church, Salisbury, NC; First Baptist Church, Liberty, NC; Oakdale Baptist Church, Spencer, NC; Bruner’s Chapel Baptist church, Harrodsburg, KY; First Baptist church, Old Fort, NC and Mon-Aetna Baptist Church, Union, SC. (Membership transferred to a local church while attending college or seminary does not make the student ineligible for aid.)

Each applicant shall be a student in good standing pursuing a basic professional degree in one of the seminaries of the Southern Baptist Convention supported by the Cooperative Program. (Golden Gate Theological Seminary, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)

Each applicant receiving aid from this fund shall be required to sign a note for the full amount advanced. If the applicant continues in full-time religious work in the Baptist denomination for two years after graduation, he or she shall not be required to pay back any part on the money advanced. Otherwise, it shall become a loan to be repaid at the interest rate of 2% per annum at the expiration of the two-year period.

The maximum amount granted per student for the full school year shall be governed by the amount of funds on hand and shall be conditioned by the amount received from other funds.

Scholarships are awarded on an annual basis (except for students enrolling initially in the second semester). Each applicant should submit an application for each school year that a scholarship from this fund is requested. (Letters of recommendation and church approval need to be submitted with only the initial application.)