Seattle

A Better Chance – National *
Grades: 4-9
A Better Chance seeks to increase substantially the number of well-educated young people of color who are capable of assuming positions of responsibility and leadership in American society. This is done by facilitating their entry into independent college preparatory schools. Through its network of member schools, A Better Chance is able to leverage an estimated $20+ million per year in financial aid for talented, economically disadvantaged youth of color. More than 96% of A Better Chance's graduates go on to college directly after high school, a majority entering our country's most selective colleges.

Academically Interested Minds (AIM) – Kettering University – National
Grades: 11
AIM (Academically Interested Minds) is a five-week residential pre-college summer program which began in 1984 and has continued to thrive over the years. The program is designed to augment Kettering University's efforts to reach a greater number of multicultural students who have a strong interest in the areas of engineering, math, science and business.

ACE Mentor
Grades: 9-12
Since the 2001-2002 academic year, the ACE Mentor Program of Washington has introduced Seattle-area high school students to the opportunities available in the architecture, construction, and engineering industries. Each ACE team completes a design project, giving them hands-on experience with the real life challenges industry professionals deal with every day. Volunteers from local firms in the building industry serve as mentors, sharing with the students their insights, perspectives, and experiences, and introducing them to many of the tools used by professionals in the industry. Some students receive college scholarships, and many remain in contact with their mentors for assistance with career choices, college and internship applications, and full-time employment.

ACT-SO – National
Grades: 9-12
The NAACP's Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics is a yearlong achievement program designed to recruit, stimulate, and encourage high academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students.

A PLUS Youth Program
Grades: 4-12
The mission of the A PLUS Youth Program is to use sports as a vehicle to provide the educational resources and character development necessary for student-athletes to succeed in life. The A PLUS Youth Program is an after school program which includes academic case management, tutoring, and sports skill development.

Arts Corps
Ages: 5-19
Arts Corps is a leading non-profit arts education organization dedicated to developing creative habits of mind in young people. Based in Seattle, Washington, Arts Corps bring hands-on arts classes to youth with little or no other access to arts learning opportunities, predominately children in low-income communities of color.

BioQuest Academy
Grades: 11
The BioQuest Academy was designed with the goal to provide young adults who demonstrate science predilection with access to authentic biomedical research, thereby promoting confidence and skills early in their scientific career pathways. At BioQuest Academy, Seattle BioMed scientists will teach you real lab skills, share their passion for overcoming devastating global infectious diseases and will help advance your senior year steps into college and post-secondary opportunities.

Carleton Liberal Arts Experience – National
Grades: 10
Carleton College is honored to host an inspiring summer program designed for the best and brightest college-bound students representing high schools across the country. The Carleton Liberal Arts Experience (CLAE) will select 50 high school students who have just completed their sophomore year and bring them to Carleton, all expenses paid, for a one-week summer program. The CLAE program introduces the strengths of a liberal arts education through an array of courses in science, art, social sciences, and technology.

College Access Now
Grades: 9-College
College Access Now is dedicated to making college admission and graduation possible for talented, motivated and economically disadvantaged students. CAN provides these critical services: Education (including ACT test preparation); Follow-up and Advising (including application and essay-writing support, task monitoring, and financial aid/scholarship applications support); Campus Visits; Advocacy (including help addressing financial aid package issues, decision-making assistance, and connecting to campus resources); Promoting a college-going culture in high schools where CAN operates; College-persistence support services – a combination of student outreach, bi-directional connection-making between colleges and students, and targeted college relationship building to yield increased resources and access to resources for CAN students.

College Success Foundation (CSF)
Grades: 7-12
We provide an integrated system of supports and scholarships for underserved, low-income students to finish high school, graduate from college and succeed in life. The CSF model provides a pipeline of supports beginning in 7th grade and continuing through college completion and initial employment. CSF helps students successfully navigate the critical transition from middle to high school. At other levels, emphasis is on the 9th to 10th grade transition, the high school to college transition, the first to second year persistence in postsecondary programs and degree completion to employment and career. In addition we manage a variety of scholarship programs to ease the financial burden of attending college.

Community for Youth (CfY)
Grades: 9-12
Community for Youth (CfY) is a life-skills curriculum, and community supported, one-on-one mentoring program pairing students from South Seattle high schools with adult mentors. We build a family-like community of students and mentors who support each other academically, socially and emotionally.

The Dream Project – University of Washington
Grades: 11-12
The Dream Project is a student-initiated college-access and retention program that partners UW students with first-generation and low-income students in Seattle area high schools to assist in the college admissions process (including SAT prep, applications, writing essays, applying for financial aid, and finding scholarships).

Education Access Network (EAN)
Grades: 6-12
The mission of Education Access Network ("EAN") is to provide students with free and affordable access to courses and programs aimed at helping them prepare for and succeed in higher education and other academic endeavors. Education Access Network currently offers courses and programs to highly motivated students in middle school or above and are usually held at the University of Washington campus. In addition, EAN also offers individualized options, community-based workshops, courses, and programs at community centers, schools, and other colleges and universities.

El Centro de la Raza
All ages
El Centro de la Raza is a voice and a hub for Seattle and Martin Luther King, Jr. County’s Latino community as we advocate on behalf of our people and work to achieve social justice. Our Child and Youth Programs are an investment in our children and their future. We provide an array of bilingual and multicultural services, including bilingual childcare, afterschool mentoring and tutoring, and weekly workshops dealing with complex subjects of Latino history, race, hip hop and the arts as a medium for social change and community activism within the Seattle Public Schools.

Friends of the Children
Ages: 5-18
We identify vulnerable children in kindergarten and pair them with a consistent, long-term, professional mentor called a Friend who spends at least four hours with them every single week until they graduate from high school. Friends engage in a wide variety of activities with the children to foster their school success, enhance their emotional and physical health, and expose them to new places and experiences.

Halbert and Nancy Robinson Center for Young Scholars
Grades: 5-12
The mission of the Halbert and Nancy Robinson Center for Young Scholars (RC) at the University of Washington is threefold: teaching, research, and service. The RC is a leader in the nation for developing programs that serve highly capable young pre-college and college students. Through early entrance programs we prepare younger students for college and provide them with challenging, accelerated learning opportunities in a vibrant, intellectual community at the University of Washington. We also provide outreach through enrichment and summer programs that offer classes for highly capable Puget Sound students.

Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) – National
Grades: 9-12
The HSF mission is to increase the number of Hispanic college graduates by awarding scholarships and assisting students and their families in navigating the barriers to college access and completion.

Inspire Youth Project
All ages
Formerly Rise n’ Shine – the mission of Inspire Youth Project is to provide the missing social and emotional links for at-risk children. We do this through peer support, mentorship, Camp Rise n' Shine, and teen workshops.

Jack Kent Cooke Foundation – National
Grades: 7-12
The Young Scholars Program provides the most personalized, generous scholarship experience in the nation. The Foundation works closely with Scholars and their families to construct a tailored educational program that includes, but is not limited to, support for summer programs, distance learning courses, and music and art instruction. Some Young Scholars attend a private school if none of their public school options adequately serve their academic potential; however, many stay in their public schools.

Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) – National 
Grades: 11-12
LEDA (Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America) is a not-for-profit organization devoted to developing leaders for our nation by helping exceptional public high school students who come from underserved backgrounds gain admission to the country's leading colleges and universities.

Making Connections – University of Washington
Grades: 9-12
The mission of Making Connections is to increase college enrollment and career exploration in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields for underrepresented youth. The program provides resources for students in high school by offering the following services: mentoring, tutoring, scholarships, college prep, and campus visits.

Materials Science Summer Day Camp – University of Washington
Grades: 11-12
A free week-long camp that introduces high school juniors and seniors to materials engineering.

Math Academy – University of Washington
Grades: 11
Math Academy is an intensive, four-week residential session held on the Seattle UW Campus in summer. Students engage in coursework created by UW math faculty and designed to develop the skills necessary to meet the high standards of college-level math and engineering. Students also have enrichment opportunities to explore the range of career opportunities available to engineers through lab tours, research projects, site visits and networking events. Open to all students from Washington state, the Math Academy especially targets underrepresented minorities in engineering including African American, Latino, Native American, Pacific Islander and female students.

Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA)
Grades: K-12
In MESA, African-American, Native American, Latino and female students prepare for college in mathematics, engineering, and science, beginning in elementary school, and continuing through high school. MESA supports students, teachers, and parents with innovative, hands-on programs and opportunities. MESA services include MESA enriched math and science classes, after school and summer programs, pre-college advising and support, participation in national engineering conferences, local, state and national competitions, internships with local businesses and research centers, role models and mentors, parent workshops and field trips, teacher professional development, and integrated science and math curriculum.

Minds Matter Seattle – National
Grades: 10-12
We forge relationships with guidance counselors, who then recommend their top sophomores to attend our program. Each accepted student is paired with two mentors who work together for the next three years. Our program consists of SAT/ACT training, Vocabulary and Writing & Critical Thinking workshops, application, scholarship and financial aid navigation techniques, career panels, college life assimilation tools, and various guest speakers and field trips. Every summer, we send each sophomore and junior mentee to a college summer program, and seniors to a leading four-year college, of his or her choice.

Minority Introduction to Engineering & Science (MITES) – MIT – National
Grades: 11
Through the MITES (Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science) program, The Office of Engineering Outreach Programs offers three rigorous residential and online academic enrichment programs for promising high school juniors who are interested in studying and exploring careers in science and engineering. By submitting a MITES application, students are automatically considered for one of three academic enrichment opportunities: a one-week residential program, a six-week residential program, and a six-month online enrichment program.

National Hispanic Institute – National
Grades: 9-College
We are both a national and international organization that provides Latino young people with the structures and settings to envision themselves as future community leaders, practice their skills in leading and working with others, and engage in critical discussions to define their calling while preparing themselves for the mission of changing lives. Dedication to personal excellence, a strong belief in family and culture, and service to others are the core values and beliefs that drive the work of the Institute and embrace its vision.

National Space Club Scholars – National
Grades: 10
The National Space Club Scholars Project is a summer intern experience for up to 30 high school students to work with space scientists and engineers. The purpose of this project is to provide students with an opportunity to experience how research and development organizations operate on a day-to-day basis in direct support of NASA's mission to inspire the next generation of explorers. Participants are assigned to work with a technical professional in a field related to the student's stated interests and expertise. The available areas of interest include Earth and space systems science, computer science, and engineering.

Nurse Camp – University of Washington
Grades: 10-11
A week-long day camp offered to underrepresented high school students interested in pursuing a nursing career. Campers will have the opportunity to shadow nurses at UWMC.

Princeton University Summer Journalism Program – National
Grades: 11
We welcome about 20 high school students from low-income backgrounds every summer to Princeton's campus for an intensive, 10-day seminar on journalism. The program's goal is to diversify college and professional newsrooms by encouraging outstanding students from low-income backgrounds to pursue careers in journalism. All expenses, including students' travel costs to and from Princeton, are paid for by the program.

QuestBridge – National
Grades: 11-12
QuestBridge is a powerful platform bridging the nation's brightest, under-served youth and leading institutions of higher education and further opportunities. We are an aggregator of excellence. QuestBridge provides a single, internet-based meeting point which links exceptional students with colleges, scholarship providers, enrichment programs employers, and organizations seeking students who have excelled despite obstacles. By facilitating these exchanges, QuestBridge aims to increase the percentage of talented low-income students attending the nation's best universities and the ranks of national leadership itself.

Rainier Scholars
Grades: 1-12
Each spring, we invite 60 promising students of color to embark on an 11-year, life-changing journey. It demands hard work and commitment. In exchange, it offers invaluable opportunity. The 11-year program model is divided in four distinct phases – Academic Enrichment, Academic Counseling and Support, Leadership Development and College Support.

Reel Grrls
Ages: 9-21
Reel Grrls is the premier year-round media-training program for girls. At Reel Grrls, girls ages 9 – 21 learn production skills through hands-on workshops and classes taught by female media professionals and educators. Since 2001, over 1000 students have participated in Reel Grrls programs and Reel Grrls media have been honored in more than 90 film festivals globally.

Research Science Institute – MIT – National
Grades: 9-11
Each summer, 80 of the world's most accomplished high school students gather at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the Research Science Institute (RSI). RSI is the first cost-free to students, summer science & engineering program to combine on-campus course work in scientific theory with off-campus work in science and technology research. RSI scholars first participate in a week of intensive STEM classes with accomplished professors. The heart of RSI is the five week research internship where students conduct individual projects under the tutelage of mentors who are experienced scientists and researchers. During the final week of RSI, students prepare written and oral presentations on their research projects.

Running Start – South Seattle Community College
Grades: 9-12
Running Start is an exciting option that allows qualified high school juniors and seniors to enroll tuition-free in college courses, depending on how many courses students take at their high school. Credits earned at South Seattle Community College are transferable to most 4-year colleges and universities, and can satisfy high school graduation requirements.

Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP) – National
Grades: 9-12
The Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP) provides an opportunity for students to participate in research at a Department of Navy (DoN) laboratory during the summer. The goals of SEAP are to encourage participating students to pursue science and engineering careers, to further their education via mentoring by laboratory personnel and their participation in research, and to make them aware of DoN research and technology efforts, which can lead to employment within the DoN.

Seattle Education Access (SEA)
Grades: 9-College
Seattle Education Access (SEA) provides higher education advocacy and opportunity to people struggling to overcome poverty and adversity. We help low income and marginalized young people make strong transitions to local community colleges and four year universities. Our students are succeeding in college and leaving poverty behind, preparing to give back to society as professionals and leaders of the next generation.

Seattle Police Department Youth Outreach
Ages: 13-21
Seattle Police participates in numerous opportunities to continually build their connection with young people with programs and services. Senior commanders also serve on the Mayor’s Youth Commission to meet with young leaders and discuss police programs and policies.

The Short-Term Research Experience for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP) – National
Grades: 11-12
The High School STEP-UP provides hands-on summer research experience for high school students interested in exploring research careers in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical and social sciences. The program provides exposure to the core NIDDK mission areas of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases and nutrition; and kidney, urologic and hematologic diseases.

Smith Summer Science and Engineering Program (SSEP) – National
Grades: 9-12
The Smith Summer Science and Engineering Program (SSEP) is a four-week residential program for exceptional young women with strong interests in science, engineering and medicine. Each July, select high school students from across the country and abroad come to Smith College to do hands-on research with Smith faculty in the life and physical sciences and in engineering.

South Seattle Community College TRIO Upward Bound
Grades: 9-12
The South Seattle Community College TRIO Upward Bound Program is funded by the US Department of Education and serves students at the Tyee Educational Complex (Global Connections High School and ACE) and the Evergreen Campus (HS3 and TEC), providing low-income and potential first-generation students with the skills and motivation to complete high school, go to college, and graduate from college. Student participants are eligible to participate in a six-week non-residential summer program held on the campus of South Seattle Community College. Students are offered an integrated curriculum on core academic subjects like science, language arts, foreign language, math, humanities, and computer technology.

Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR) – National
Grades: 11-12
This is an eight-week program in which high school students from diverse backgrounds are invited to perform basic research with Stanford faculty, postdoctoral fellows, students and researchers on a medically-oriented project. The goals of the program include increasing interest in biological sciences and medicine in high school students, helping students to understand how scientific research is performed, and increasing diversity of students and researchers in the sciences.

Stanford Medical Youth Science Program – National
Grades: 9-12
The Stanford Medical Youth Science Program works to increase knowledge about the sciences and health professions, and offer guidance about the college admissions process to low-income and/or underrepresented minority students. To meet this goal, SMYSP offers a university-based five-week Summer Residential Program and school-based academic year health disparities curriculum.

Summer Humanities Institute – Stanford – National
Grades: 11-12
Students will spend three weeks on the beautiful Stanford campus, living in residence. They will spend the first two weeks intensively studying and researching a topic in history or philosophy, attending daily lectures by the faculty members, and participating in group discussions and activities in the afternoon. During their third week, students will work closely with their professors, graduate students, and writing mentors to produce original research projects. These papers present an opportunity for students to use what they have learned at Stanford to develop their own answers to the central questions that are addressed by the humanities.

Summer Institute for Mathematics – University of Washington
Grades: 9-12
SIMUW provides a carefully selected group of motivated high school students with ample opportunities to acquire a full appreciation of the nature of mathematics. The program includes six intensive two-week courses taught by university professors on topics that change from year to year. In the past, students have studied methods of argument, combinatorics, hyperbolic geometry, game theory, group theory, coding theory, and much more. When not in class, students work on problems in groups or individually, have mathematical discussions with the Teaching Assistant Counselors, and participate in social events, sports, and weekly Saturday outings.

Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research (SIP) – National
Ages: 16 and over
Summer programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provide an opportunity to spend a summer working at the NIH side-by-side with some of the leading scientists in the world, in an environment devoted exclusively to biomedical research. Internships cover a minimum of eight weeks, with students generally arriving at the NIH in May or June. The NIH Institutes and the Office of Intramural Training & Education sponsor a wide range of summer activities including lectures featuring distinguished NIH investigators, career/professional development workshops, and Summer Poster Day.

Summer Research with the National Institute on Drug Abuse – National
Ages: 15 and over
This program is designed to provide high school and undergraduate students from underrepresented groups with meaningful research experiences and mentorship in the field of drug abuse and addiction. Each year up to 50 NIDA research investigators offer their labs and their time for eight to ten weeks to mentor up to 60 students interested in drug abuse research.

Summer Search – National
Grades: 9-12
The mission of Summer Search is to find resilient low-income high school students and inspire them to become responsible and altruistic leaders by providing year-round mentoring, life-changing summer experiences, college advising, and a lasting support network.

Technology Access Foundation (TAF)
Grades: 1-12
Technology Access Foundation (TAF) was founded in 1996 to help reduce the opportunity gap in education and bring more youth of color to STEM-related disciplines and careers. Today, TAF is a valued partner with public education offering two programs: STEM Up, an after-school academic enrichment program that strengthens students’ academic and life skills and helps them get ready for college early, and TAF Academy, an award winning, 6th-12th grade partner school model, meaning it’s co-managed by TAF and the school district where the school is located. Lessons combine STEM, humanities and the arts, and some are even taught by STEM professionals.

Telluride Association Sophomore Summer – National
Grades: 10
Telluride works with university faculty to create exciting courses designed to inspire young people to explore the histories, politics and cultural experiences of people of African descent and a variety of other topics.

Telluride Association Summer Program (TASP) – National
Grades: 11
A Telluride Association Summer Program (TASP) is a six-week educational experience for high school juniors that offers challenges and rewards rarely encountered in secondary school or even college. Each program is designed to bring together young people from around the world who share a passion for learning. Telluride students, or TASPers, attend a seminar led by college and university scholars and participate in many other educational and social activities outside the classroom.

Treehouse for Kids
All ages
Treehouse is the only agency in King County that provides youth in foster care with the essential and academic supports they equally deserve to help them graduate at the same rate as their peers with a plan for their future. We support youth in foster care through an integrated, research-based service delivery model that fuses our longstanding programs providing material and educational support, and opportunities for extracurricular engagement to ensure our kids are receiving the most comprehensive support possible.

University of Washington Upward Bound
Grades: 9-12
The Upward Bound program at the University of Washington’s Office of Minority Affairs is a year-round program serving qualified students at Cleveland and Franklin High School. There is both an Academic Year and a Summer Component. New students are admitted the semester before the Summer Program. Once admitted, students must attend all summers until graduation, as well as participate in classes during the academic year.

Urban Art Works
Ages: 14-18
Our program employs, trains and mentors groups of at-risk and adjudicated youth ages 14-18 through the creation of public art murals. We also work with volunteer youth and adults in the creation of public art.

UW Summer Youth Programs
Grades: K-12
Integrating the vast resources of the University of Washington, Summer Youth Programs deliver an academically rich curriculum offered in a fun, safe learning environment. Classes are led by highly qualified and experienced instructors who engage students in fun and innovative ways.

Ventures Scholars – National
Grades: 9-College
The Ventures Scholars Program is a national nonprofit membership program designed to promote access to higher education for young adults interested in pursuing math- and science-based careers.

W.E.B. Dubois Scholars Institute – National
Grades: 10-11
The W.E.B. DuBois Scholars Institute provides leadership, scholarship, community service, and entrepreneur training along with exposure to science and technology for high-achieving youth attending secondary schools. It was founded with an aim to develop a cadre of brilliant leaders/activist scholars with a commitment to contributing their talents for the betterment of others by solving major problems facing our society.

Women's Technology Program (WTP) – MIT – National
Grades: 11
The MIT Women's Technology Program (WTP) is a rigorous four-week summer academic and residential experience where female high school students explore engineering through hands-on classes, labs, and team-based projects in the summer after 11th grade.

Youth in Focus
Ages: 13-19
Youth in Focus’s mission is to empower urban youth, through photography, to experience their world in new ways and to make positive choices for their lives. We put cameras in the hands of low income, at-risk youth and place them in a challenging environment surrounded by high quality talented teachers, nurturing adult volunteer mentors, and create a strong community of support.

Youth Leadership Conference on Asian and Pacific Islander Health – Stanford – National
Grades: 9-12
The Youth Leadership Conference on Asian and Pacific Islander Health is a four day conference at Stanford University. High school students from across the country are invited to attend to gain leadership skills for effecting change in local communities. Conference participants will meet other students interested in making a difference in public health. Leading medical experts, professors, and policymakers will speak on issues of Asian and Pacific Islander health. Students will also have a chance to apply the skills they gain in an outreach planning simulation.