Scholarships for Summer Programs

Last week we talked about the incredible opportunities and experiences that summer programs can provide for high school students, but what we did not mention is how expensive they can be. While fees vary by program, they generally cost a few thousand dollars. The two-week pre-college program at Harvard, for instance, costs $4500 plus a $50 application fee and $100 health-insurance fee. A two-week, non-credit program at Cornell costs $4100. COSMOS, California State Summer School for Math and Sciences, costs $3545 for in-state students and nearly $6000 for out-of-state students.

Understandably, such summer programs are not in the budget for many families. Fortunately, there are scholarships and other financial aid options to make such opportunities more feasible for a wider range of academics.

QuestBridge

QuestBridge is a national nonprofit that provides post-secondary support for high-achieving, low-income students. The organization partners with Emory, the University of Chicago, Notre Dame, Penn, Stanford, and Yale, offering full scholarships to the variety of summer programs offered at each university. Apply now!

Summerfuel

Summerfuel offers a wide range of programs throughout the world. Pre-college experiences are headed up at UC Berkeley, Tufts, and Oxford, while cultural exploration programs are held in Barcelona, Costa Rica, Nice, and Andalusia. They focus on business and entrepreneurship at ESADE Barcelona, Columbia, Georgetown, and Stanford, and they offer a college admissions edge at Tufts and UC Berkeley. One percent of all program fees go toward funding partial and full-tuition scholarships for students based on merit and financial need, so apply now!

Youth for Understanding

Youth for Understanding is an intercultural exchange program, whereby students travel to another country in a traditional homestay program: living with a host family and participating in activities throughout the summer. Youth for Understanding offers over 200 full and partial scholarships (totalling more than $2.3 million) based on merit and financial aid. Apply now!

National Student Leadership Conference

The National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) offers more than 20 specialized summer programs exploring themes such as entertainment management, international diplomacy, biotechnology, game design, and more. In addition to offering scholarships to help cover tuition for the summer programs, NSLC also provides many resources to help students fundraise the remainder of the cost. Additionally, they offer scholarships to alumni of the summer programs: $20,000 for students accepted to host colleges. Apply now!

Blueprint

Blueprint offers specialized pre-college programming at six campuses nationwide: Georgetown, Howard, Lehigh, University of Virginia, University of Florida, and UCLA. They offer both classic courses, such as business, film study, and computer science, as well as career courses, such as architecture, writing, and veterinary science. While Blueprint does not offer full scholarships, they do encourage community fundraising to help subsidize the cost; they also have payment plans available. Apply now!

For other examples of financial aid offered at specific programs, check out this list from College Greenlight and this list from Insider Monkey. Additionally, if there is a specific program in which you are interested, do some digging around on its website, as financial aid information will likely be readily available. And definitely do not hesitate to contact the program directly: they have professionals on staff ready to help. Happy (Scholarship) Hunting!