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Precollege Summer Institutes

Earn college credit while advancing your skills in an area of study

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Where classroom knowledge meets real-world experience

As the only official academic precollege programs offered by UCLA, Precollege Summer Institutes provide motivated and driven high school students the opportunity to earn college credit in one to three weeks while advancing their academic career and abilities in an area of study of their interest. Through co-curricular components including hands-on projects and performances, field visits, and guest lectures, students receive a comprehensive and immersive study of their chosen subject that goes beyond classroom instruction. Our Precollege Summer Institutes are open to high school students from around the world. We invite you to join our diverse and inclusive UCLA community full of respect, ideas, and optimism.

Please visit the Precollege Summer Institute Bruin Guide for more information.

ENROLLMENT is closed for 2023.

2024 programs and dates will be posted in late 2023. APPLICATIONS and ENROLLMENT will open in early 2024.

2023 Precollege Summer Institutes

A female student in an art studio holds a paintbrush to a painting of three women.

Art Summer Institute

Hone your artistic skills in areas such as painting, drawing, photography, video art, or sculpture, or artistic voice. Sessions include studio work, lectures, presentations, and a final art exhibition.
A female student looks at a camera that's facing another female student as the subject, with the subject visible in the camera's preview screen.

Camera Acting Summer Institute

Learn the process of relating to the camera lens and approaches to understanding a script to prepare for and connect in an audition. You’ll learn the technical components of acting for the camera while writing and filming your own content, including self-tapes.
A student wears headphones and looks at a computer screen in a computer lab with colorful posters on the walls. Two other students can be seen in the background.

Computer Science Summer Institute – Intermediate Track

The Intermediate Track includes topics such as critical concepts and skills in computer programming related to statistical inference, with hands-on analysis of real-world datasets including economic data, health data, geographical data, and social networks.
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Computer Science Summer Institute – Introductory Track

The Introductory Track provides a unique combination of coursework, a coding bootcamp, and lab touring experiences. This track is designed for students who do not have prior programming experience.

Content Creation & Scriptwriting Summer Institute

Classes in web writing, screenwriting, playwriting, improv, and sketch comedy allow students to create stories that can be shared across all entertainment mediums.
A male student stands in a classroom holding a notebook and pen with three students sitting next to him with notebooks on their laps, one looking up at him.

Critical Thinking Summer Institute

Evaluate arguments, make model decisions, and avoid reasoning traps with lectures on psychology of reasoning, foundations of deductive + inductive logic, and probability + decision theory. Media literacy and journalism workshops prepare you to write an article for publication.

Design Innovation Summer Institute – Lighting and Sound

Explore the art of light and sound for the theater. Learn the technical components and the art of collaboration while expressing creative intent.
Overhead view of seven students working at a large table covered with colored paper, notebooks, rulers and other art supplies

Design Media Arts Summer Institute

Step into the world of media arts and learn the fundamentals of design within the mediums of graphic, web, game, and audio-visual media. Develop projects and build portfolios using cutting-edge software and technology.

Economics Summer Institute

Expand your knowledge of critical economic issues affecting the United States and the world at one of the top-ranked economics departments in the world! Learn economic policy and analysis while building your data analysis skills.

Film and Television Summer Institute – Cinematography

Demystify the concepts, creativity, and technique of cinematic lighting through a combination of lectures and hands-on lighting exercises. Working on UCLA sound stages with the latest digital cinema cameras and lighting equipment, explore…

Film and Television Summer Institute – Digital Filmmaking

Take your film projects to the next level by enhancing your understanding of the aesthetic, creative, and logistical decisions in filmmaking. Develop creativity and technique in cinematic storytelling for entertaining narrative projects.

Film and Television Summer Institute – Media Parks: The Cinematic and Televisual History of Theme Parks

Examine the contexts and shared histories of theme parks and screen media, and investigate how these cultural phenomena are shaping one another in today’s media landscape.

Film and Television Summer Institute – Writing for TV: Big Ideas for the Small Screen

Get an introduction to professional TV writing by learning how to develop original series concepts and navigate the contemporary marketplace. Identify and capture the tone, characters, dialogue, and themes that makes stories unique.
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Game Lab Summer Institute

Create games and game art that express a personal artistic vision through technological expertise. Learn the foundations of game aesthetics, context, and genres in the game development process.

Hip Hop / Street Dance Summer Institute

The artistic mediums of dance, choreography, and music blend with social activism in this award-winning program. Choreograph and give a final performance to show how art can be a force for social change.
Eleven students sitting next to each other on a low wall in front of trees, smiling, with their legs dangling.

Immersive International Studies Summer Institute

Bring the roles of historical characters to life with pivotal moments in history and government. Utilizing innovative pedagogy of Reacting to the Past, use critical thinking, primary source analysis, and argumentation.
Students sit in folding chairs in a room with white walls and student artwork hung on the walls, facing two students who are standing in the front of the room.

International Development Summer Institute

Are you passionate about developing strategies to address critical world issues? Through guided discussions and a project incubator lab, you will develop policy memos, models, and interventions in ways that are economically, environmentally, and culturally sustainable.
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Introduction to Investments Summer Institute

Build a financial plan and learn the structure of global financial markets at one of the top-ranked economics departments in the world. Gain a financial literacy of the investing landscape in business and personal investment decisions.
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Nanoscale Microscopy Lab Summer Institute

Learn about scientific imaging, fluorescence microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, and electron microscopy. This program provides a foundational knowledge to a key element in the scientific method of observation.
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Nanoscience Lab Summer Institute

In collaboration with the California NanoSystems Institute, explore technologies and diverse topics of bio-toxicity, supercapacitors, and photolithography. Designed for students with a strong science foundation in chemistry, physics, and biology.

Political Science Summer Institute

An introduction to American politics that will develop your critical thinking & writing skills, and expose you to the myriad careers one can pursue with a Political Science degree.

Python for Economics and Finance Summer Institute

This course is a basic introduction to Python for basic data exploration, analysis, and visualization. Students will learn about data types and focus on analysis through a hands-on approach.

Stage Management Summer Institute

Step behind the curtain and into the exciting behind-the-scenes world of the performing arts! Learn the ins and outs of theatre production through workshops and other hands-on activities.
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Startup UCLA: Social Entrepreneurship Summer Institute

Learn the basics of starting, building, and running non-profit social good organizations and social impact businesses. Topics include social entrepreneurship, social enterprises and non-profits.

TeenArch Studio Summer Institute

Experience the field of architecture through hands-on design projects, landmark buildings, and LA based architectural offices. Develop your design skills in a studio environment while creating an architecture portfolio.
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Scholarship opportunities available for California high school students

Qualified students attending grades 8th – 11th in Spring 2020 in California are eligible for Summer Scholars Support, a need and merit based scholarship offered by the UCLA Summer Sessions Office. A limited number of full and partial scholarships are available.