WHAT ARE THE STUDENT ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS?
Eligibility Criteria
- Students must be enrolled for the current academic year in a university/college as an undergraduate or graduate* student at the time of application. Full-time enrollment is not required; part-time enrollment is acceptable.
- The student can only compete in their country of origin or country of study.
- Students must be the owner, founder or controlling shareholder of your company and principally responsible for its operation. Each company can be represented by only one owner/co-founder
- The student’s business must be in operation for at least six consecutive months prior to the application
- The business must have generated US $500 or received US $1000 in investments at the time of application.
- The student cannot be one of the top seven finalists from any previous year’s GSEA Global Finals Competition.
- The age cap for participation is 30 years of age.
Graduate students are eligible to apply only if they have continually enrolled in a university following their undergraduate degree and not left school to work on their business or to seek other employment.Exceptions can be made for students who have taken up to one academic year off before beginning their postgraduate education.
These eligibility criteria are posted on the GSEA website and the student application. The student is not required to submit proof of eligibility at the time of application. But should any of these criteria come into question, the GSEA Chair should ask for supporting documentation.
GSEA Chairs are responsible for ensuring all students competing at the local level meet all the eligibility requirements. It’s highly recommended to double check eligibility at the national level as, on occasion, this is overlooked and an ineligible student wins the local competition. The global team reviews all the applications for students advancing to Global Finals. Should we discover a student does not meet the eligibility requirements, the region will be asked to advance another student in his/her place.
HOW MANY STUDENTS WILL ADVANCE TO THE GLOBAL FINALS?
Students will advance to the Global Finals through a series of local and national competitions. In countries where only one GSEA local competition takes place, one student from that chapter will advance to the Global Finals. In countries with multiple GSEA local competitions, the number of Global Finalists will be determined by the number of chapters participating in the national competition.
Prizes are generally a combination of cash and business services and will vary by location. At the Global Finals, students compete for a total prize package of US$50,000 in cash and first place receives US$25,000. Second place will receive US$10,000 and third place will receive US$5,000.
| Number of Participating Chapters in Nationals | Number of Students to Advance |
|---|---|
| 2-3 | 2 |
| 4-5 | 3 |
| 6-7 | 4 |
| 8-9 | 5 |
| 10-11 | 6 |
| 12+ | 7 |
Competition Dates
