State by state, our country is revamping our education system to ensure that each and every one of our young people is college and career ready. To ensure high-quality competency education, in 2011 one hundred innovators created a working definition to guide the field. This paper delves into the fourth element of the definition: "Students receive timely, differentiated support based on their individual learning needs". Through a series of interviews and site visits, an understanding of how support in a competency-based school differs from traditional approaches emerged. Learning in a competency-based environment means pushing students and adults to the edge of their comfort zone and competence--the learning edge. Common themes that were drawn from the wide variety of ways schools support students became the basis for the design principles introduced in this report. The aim of this paper is to provide ideas and guidance so that innovators in competency education can put into place powerful systems of supports for students in order to eradicate, not replicate, the inequities and variability in quality and outcomes that exist in our current system. This paper is an initial exploration into what it means to provide support for the individual learning needs of students. It is designed to generate reflection, analysis, and feedback. Contains endnotes and an about the authors section.