Summer College for High School Students Office of Summer and Winter Sessions

Frequently Asked Questions

You will need to complete the Summer College for High School Students (labeled as Summer College for H.S.) application located on this page. Be sure to fill out the entire application!

Within the application, you will be asked to submit your preferences for short-term courses or traditional courses (offered in distance learning and commuter options). You will also be given the following essay prompt: "How would you benefit from completing summer courses at Purdue University?"

After you submit the application, you must upload an unofficial or official high school transcript. It is encouraged to ask your school guidance counselor or registrar for an unofficial or official transcript that includes all grades since the first semester of 9th grade. A report card will not meet this requirement. 

Additionally, after submitting the application, you must also pay the $60 application non-refundable fee. You will receive a link via email to pay the application fee after you submit your complete application. If you do not receive the link, please email thinksummer@purdue.edu for assistance.

Yes. Admitted students will submit an enrollment deposit ($500) by May 1 (extended to May 15th for 2025) to accept their offer of admission and prevent cancelation. Deposit deferrals are available to eligible students with financial need. Please contact Ja’Niah Downing (downingj@purdue.edu) for information. Even if a deferral is granted, students must confirm their commitment to Purdue online.
If a student gets locked out of their Purdue Career Account, please contact Purdue IT to regain access. The student will need to be present during the phone call and will need to provide their PUID number. Additionally, the student may be asked to set up a video-on Zoom call to verify their identity in order to regain access to their account. Purdue IT can be reached directly at (765) 494-4000.

Yes, students who accept their admission for Summer College for High School Students will be provided with an @purdue.edu email address. Many Purdue offices, such as the Office of the Registrar and the Office of the Bursar, send email notifications exclusively to students' official Purdue email accounts. If the student has not yet set up their @purdue.edu email address, please find the instructions on how to do so on this page under "Getting started with your @purdue.edu email account."

Please do not forward your Purdue email to a non @purdue.edu email address. Doing so may prevent you from receiving important emails, and we may not always receive your replies; therefore, please make sure to log in and check your Purdue email account. Purdue's email service is through Microsoft Outlook. 

Whether you are participating in a short-term program or a a traditional course, you will be enrolled in a credit-bearing course at Purdue University. All Purdue credits, including those attempted as a high school student, will count towards your Purdue grade point average (GPA) and academic progress. The credit and grade you receive during Summer College for High School Students will become part of your permanent Purdue record.

Due to high demand, each student may only participate in one short-term course per summer. We recommend focusing on that single course during its scheduled week to get the most out of the experience. If you’re interested in additional academic opportunities, we also offer online traditional college courses for all admitted students.

Our team does not recommend taking any other coursework during the week you are attending your short-term course. 

You will follow a similar application process to those who are wishing to participate in the short-term programs. See the application process for traditional college coursework here.

Purdue will only provide housing, meals, and supervision for the duration of the program. If your student wishes to come early or stay late, you will be responsible for booking your own accommodations that are not affiliated with Purdue. The Summer College for High School Students check-in will be from 3 pm - 5 pm the Sunday before the course begins, and checkout will be from 3 pm - 5 pm. Students must depart campus by 5 pm on the Friday the course ends. Please book travel accommodations accordingly. 

Students can add a parent/guardian as a proxy to view their billing statement, make a payment on the student's behalf, and more. The student will need to provide proxy access by following the instructions linked here.  

Scholarship opportunities are tied to individual short-term programs. Please refer to their course description on the short-term courses page for more information. The university does not provide financial aid for non-degree seeking students.

Academic sessions are facilitated or supervised by current Purdue faculty, staff, and teaching assistants (TAs).
Faculty and staff in academic units will lead the academic sessions for each program. The Office of Summer and Winter Sessions also employs current Purdue undergraduate students to be chaperones for the high school students while they are checked in with us for the duration of their program. Full-time, professional staff members in the Office of Summer and Winter Sessions will also interact with students throughout the week. Policies and guidelines for Summer College for High School Students are developed in accordance with guidance provided by Ethics and Compliance.

All staff members in the Office of Summer and Winter Sessions, peer mentors, faculty members/instructors, and program leads are mandated to complete the following trainings:

All peer mentors and professional staff members in the Office of Summer and Winter Sessions also receive the following mandated training, at minimum:

  • Question-Persuade-Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention
  • Violent Behavior Policy Awareness
  • Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
  • Data Classification and Handling Educational Resources
  • Gramm Leach Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999

State and national registry checks are completed for every faculty member, staff member, peer mentor, and any other individual working with minors within Summer College for High School Students. 

All questions should be addressed to the Pre-College Pathways team at thinksummer@purdue.edu. Our team is happy to work with you and improve your experience on campus.
After submitting your application, you will be sent an email prompting you to create an application portal. You will pay the application fee in this portal after submitting your application. Your application will not be considered complete until the fee or fee waiver has been submitted.    

For our short-term residential courses - international students must already possess a visa that allows study in the U.S. to complete residential classes. Purdue University does not sponsor international student visas for our short-term residential courses.  

For traditional online courses - no student visa is needed, and international students are welcome to apply. 

 
Admission and participation in the Summer College for High School Student programs are independent of the undergraduate admission process for Purdue University.