Yale Summer Academy – Online
Leadership. Collaboration. Social Entrepreneurship.
Sponsored by Yale University, the Yale Summer Academy is an immersive, innovative leadership program for high school students. The program is designed to develop the next generation’s leaders, top thinkers, and change-makers.
Thought-provoking leadership requires us to dignify and empower others, ask questions, and create great enthusiasm for a shared vision. The program will turn your passions into action and train you to be an agent of change in your community.
Application Requirements
You must be 14-17 years of age by Monday, July 19, 2021 in order to apply for admission to the Yale Summer Academy.
In order to complete an application for review, students will be required to complete several application requirements. After you apply and pay your non-refundable application fee of $75, you will gain access to your online account where you will complete the following:
- Student Questionnaire (Skills, strengths, extracurricular activities)
- Essay (Explain your interest and desire to attend The Yale Summer Academy)
- School Information (Name, address, phone, type, graduation year, guidance counselor information)
- Academic Transcript, including Fall 2020 grades (report card, grade)
- One (1) Letter of Recommendation (details outlined in the application)
- English Competency (This is required if english is not your first language and/or your academic instruction is not in English (examples: TOEFL, Cambridge, SAT, ACT)

The program will turn your passions into action and train you to be an agent of change in your community.
- Spend two weeks applying interdisciplinary knowledge and reasoning to mission-minded planning.
- Explore five academic majors at Yale, getting a preview of academics at a world-class Ivy-League University. A rotation of academic enrichment classes is woven throughout these two weeks, imparting all necessary reasoning, rationale and topic-related knowledge.
- Classes are supplemented breakout sessions.
- Working in groups, zero in on a social, local or global issue, then collaborate to develop a functional plan to inspire positive change.
- Complete the program having created an NGO, a business plan or piece of legislation that can be enacted.
Experience Summer at Yale University
VIRTUAL LEARNING SUMMER 2021
For Summer 2021, we will bring the Yale University campus to you, as we have transformed our on-campus courses into a customized, interactive, and robust online experience. Through close and meaningful virtual connections with faculty and peers, we guarantee that each student will be a vital part of our BOLD community.
Technology Use Guidelines
The information below will apply to 2022 when the in-person program resumes.

Ivy League Experience
Located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Yale campus is filled with high school students, undergraduates, graduate students and professors; giving you the real collegiate experience.

Diverse Experience
Many students come from around the world to join us each summer. Each year we hear how much students enjoy meeting people from all over the country and the world and how it opened their eyes to different parts of the globe.

Weekend Trips
A trip to New York City is offered on Saturday for exploring and sightseeing. Sunday is a more relaxed day for exploring campus and New Haven.

Evening Activities
There is always something to keep you busy when class is over: Group activities, competitions, sports, movies, tours, dining, creative events and more. The Yale campus is surrounded by museums, shops and restaurants that are fun to explore with friends during free sessions.

Enrichment Style Courses
The project-based component of the program introduces high-level leadership, advocacy and teamwork training. You and your group will agree upon an issue and use the knowledge learned in your courses to develop an initiative and begin to inspire change. You’ll showcase your group’s work during the Program Symposium at the end of the session.

Social Opportunities (applicable when the program is in-person in 2022)
Social opportunities are a cornerstone of this program. In addition to time spent with your peers in daily classes and groups, you’ll make friends during recreational evening activities, on-campus excursions to museums and labs, and a weekend trip to New York City. You will explore Yale’s campus and visit places such as the Yale Peabody Museum and the Yale Center for Engineering Innovation and Design. During the weekend trip to New York City, you will experience the city and enjoy a sightseeing cruise of the stunning skyline. On Sunday, you’ll explore some of New Haven’s hot spots such as the world-famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria, Jordan’s – the worlds largest ropes course – or the Pez Factory.

Five Enrichment Style Academic Courses
You’ll have a unique schedule to rotate through these five courses:
- Communications
- Economics
- Environmental Science
- Politics
- Technology

Generation Zers have a high interest in careers that contribute to addressing social issues and serving the community. They are extremely focused on solving a problem.

Faculty
The Yale Summer Academy employs highly qualified Yale graduate students to teach each of the courses. Guest lecturers also include Yale faculty members. When the in-person program returns in 2022, a separate residential life staff from all over the world live in the dorms and are trained to ensure your experience is fun, safe and memorable!
- Instructors are subject matter experts
- Completely separate residential staff (when the in-person program returns in 2022)
- Instructors are graduated Yale Students
- 80% of the instructors return each year