Penn Summer Prep students in class

Penn Summer Prep

Penn Summer Prep

Residential/in-person options

Residential

Courses offered on-campus

Courses offered on-campus

Non-credit program

Non-credit program

Eligibility: Current 9th-11th grade students

Eligibility: Current 9th-11th grade students

International students welcome

International students welcome

Financial aid for select Philadelphia students

Financial aid for select Philadelphia students

July 6 – July 20, 2024

  • Residential move-in date: July 6
  • Move-out date: July 20

Summer 2024 applications are closed. The applications for summer 2025 will open in late fall 2024. Please sign up to receive more information.

If you attend a School District of Philadelphia public or charter high school, you may be eligible to attend Penn Summer Prep free of charge with a Penn Summer Scholarship.


Explore Penn’s broad liberal arts and sciences curriculum within a dynamic Ivy League learning environment

The Penn Summer Prep Program allows ambitious students to enroll in two undergraduate-level modules from across disciplines while benefiting from the rich educational resources of the University. Students can also experience college life on Penn’s historic campus and explore the vibrant city of Philadelphia. Penn Summer Prep instructors are a combination of University of Pennsylvania graduate students, faculty, and staff.

Features

Choose modules from across the humanities and STEM: Once admitted into the Penn Summer Prep Program, students select two modules. Each student must select one morning module and one afternoon module from the same session. In addition to class time, students should be prepared to complete readings, group activities, or other coursework outside of the classroom. 

View Modules

Set yourself up for success: Modules are designed to engage students as critical thinkers and global citizens and to hone the analytical skills necessary for sustained academic growth. Upon successful completion of the program, students are awarded a Certificate of Completion and may request letters of recommendation from their Penn instructors.

Students will be emailed to submit their course registration form once they have been admitted and submitted their program deposit.

We ask that students choose one first choice module and two alternates for the morning and afternoon time slots. Module descriptions include any pertinent information about the module and a daily schedule. Students enroll in one morning module and one afternoon module within the same session. Waitlists for modules are not maintained, but students may be able to change their modules during the first two days of the session. All students must take two modules, there are no exceptions to this rule.

Please allow two weeks from the date of submission for registration confirmation. Instructors will be in touch with students prior to the first day of the module in early July with any necessary information.

The modules are academically rigorous. There is nightly reading assigned for some modules and some modules have ongoing projects or assignments. However, the program is not graded. Students should expect to spend about 3-5 hours a week on assignments or reading outside of class time.


*Academic credit is defined by the University of Pennsylvania as a course unit (c.u.). A course unit (c.u.) is a general measure of academic work over a period of time, typically a term (semester or summer). A c.u. (or a fraction of a c.u.) represents different types of academic work across different types of academic programs and is the basic unit of progress toward a degree. One c.u. is usually converted to a four-semester-hour course.