St. Louis

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
The ACE Mentor Program of St. Louis helps the city’s high school young people learn more about potential careers in architecture, engineering and construction. Working in teams under the guidance of professionals from local firms, students take field trips to construction sites, visit the offices of industry professionals and tour local colleges. They also work on projects that relate what industry professionals do to “real-world” situations, giving program participants an opportunity to experience firsthand the excitement and rewards available to those who transform their ideas from abstract concepts into the buildings, bridges and other constructions that make up the world in which we live. In addition, the affiliate provides financial assistance in the form of internships to students pursuing a course of study leading to a career in the building industry.

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.

BESt Pharmacy Summer Institute
Grades: 9-11
The mission of the BESt Pharmacy Summer Institute is to expose and prepare local multicultural students for a future career in healthcare, with an emphasis in pharmacy. The mission is executed with a model that combines academics, exposure, and professional development. Academics focus on improving mathematics, science, language arts, and ACT/SAT skills. Students get exposure to the pharmacy profession through pharmacy lectures and site visits. Professional development emphasizes personal brand, character, and leadership development.

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 Bound
Grades: 9-12
The mission of College Bound is to provide promising high school students from under-resourced backgrounds with the academic enrichment, social supports and life skills needed to apply, matriculate and succeed in four-year colleges. We fulfill our mission through the application of The Three P’s (Preparation, Placement, Persistence), beginning in a student’s freshman year of high school and continuing through degree completion.

Girls Inc. of St. Louis
Grades: 6-18
Girls Incorporated of St. Louis (Girls Inc.) provides educational and cultural programs in safe environments for girls that enable them to raise their aspirations and realize their potential. Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart and bold! Our programs address a variety of topics including language arts, math, science, media literacy, economic literacy and more.

Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) – National
Grades: 9-12
The HSF's 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.

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.

Kingdom House Youth Services
All ages
Through a variety of services, childcare, food & clothing assistance, job training, youth and teen programs and Senior Companions, Kingdom House helps thousands yearly to achieve self-sufficiency and gain economic independence. Kingdom House Youth programs include an After School Program for ages 6 to 12 that provides tutoring, arts and crafts, computer training, fitness, field trips, and a meal each day after school. Our Summer Day Camp operates for eight weeks each summer. We also offer youth a variety of recreational activities including organized baseball, basketball and soccer teams. Camperships provide inner city children with overnight camping and field trip experiences.

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.

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.

Missouri Fine Arts Academy (MFAA)
Grades: 10-11
The Missouri Fine Arts Academy (MFAA) is a three-week summer residential program for highly motivated student artists in visual arts, theatre, dance, creative writing, and music. The Academy offers an intensive schedule of classes in interdisciplinary and discipline-specific arts, and a wide range of co-curricular activities. MFAA is conducted with the support and cooperation of Missouri State University, and is funded through program fees, endowments, scholarships, and private donations.

Missouri Scholars Academy
Grades: 11
The Missouri Scholars Academy is a three-week academic program for 330 of Missouri's gifted students who are ready to begin their junior year in high school. The academy is a residential program held on, and partially funded by, the campus of the University of Missouri.

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.

Neighborhood House
All ages
Our programs and services include: affordable, state-licensed and accredited early childhood care and education serving children ages 6 weeks to 5 years; quality after-school programming for children ages 6 to 12 years at thirteen St. Louis and St. Louis County Elementary schools and; parent engagement and education programs, serving young mothers ages 13 to 22 years.

Office of Diversity Programs – University of Washington
Grades: 9-12
The Office of Diversity Programs sponsors or promotes a number of community outreach programs throughout the educational pipeline to enhance the exposure of students from underrepresented and economically disadvantaged groups to careers in science and medicine.

Pakt Center
All ages
Pakt Community Resource Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to the enrichment of people’s lives through providing services to those in need. After School Programs provide well run, professionally staffed, structured after-school programs. Access to recreational (i.e. dance, drumming, and circus skills) and educational needs (i.e. fine arts, multi-ethnic cultural awareness, and academic tutoring) are part of the offerings for youth and their families at low or no cost. Pakt’s flagship summer day camp program provides youth from ages 9-18 with the tools they need to increase their academic performance. The program provides children opportunities for academic enrichment, character development, cultural appreciation, social responsibility, and the benefit of parental involvement.

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.

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.

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.

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.

STAGES Performing Arts Academy
All ages
At the STAGES Performing Arts Academy, our mission is to inspire passion, creativity, and curiosity within students of all ages while providing the highest quality professional training in the musical theatre arts. Our sequential curriculum, Access the Arts, and our scholarship programs provide a range of opportunities that reveal the beauty of the performing arts.

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 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.

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.

Upward Bound – Harris-Stowe State University
Grades: 9-12
The Upward Bound Program at Harris-Stowe State University is designed to prepare low-income and potential first-generation college high school students for successful postsecondary education. Upward Bound is an on-going academic experience beginning when the student enters the program and ending when the student is enrolled in a postsecondary institution. The program is year-round and has three major components: Academic Year, Summer, and Summer Bridge.

Upward Bound – St. Louis Community College
Grades: 9-12
Upward Bound's mission is to provide high school students with the motivation and academic skills necessary to successfully complete high school and enter post-secondary education. Upward Bound is an ongoing academic experience beginning when the student enters the program and ending when the student is enrolled in a postsecondary institution. The program is year-round and has three major components: Academic Year, Summer, and Summer Bridge.

Upward Bound Math and Science Center – Southern Illinois University
Grades: 9-12
The Upward Bound Math and Science Center of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Center is designed to prepare participants for post-secondary education and motivate their exploration of science, mathematics and related education professions. Participants are selected for participation according to Federal Guidelines of being low income and/or potential first generation college graduates.

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.

Young Adult Life Initiative (YALI)
Grades: 9-12
Young Adult Life Initiative (YALI) is a not-for-profit organization that prepares youth for college and adulthood. We provide workshops and events that focus on life skills, career development, college preparation, and entrepreneurial development. We assist youth in cultivating life skills and provide opportunities for personal growth. Young Adult Life Initiative's affordable services include: portfolio development, youth life coaching/counseling, mock interviewing, teen job search development, teen resume and cover letter development, career assessment, study skills development, job search preparation, and exposure to various life skills (communication, social skills and leadership development).

Young Scientist Program – University of Washington
Grades: 9-12
Founded in 1991 by two M.D/Ph.D. students, the Young Scientist Program is designed to attract high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds into scientific careers through activities emphasizing hands-on research and individualized contact between young people and active scientists. Summer Focus provides outstanding high school students with funded research internships at the Washington University Medical Center.

Youth Exploring Science (YES)
Grades: 9-12
The Youth Exploring Science (YES) program further promotes the Saint Louis Science Center's mission to ignite and sustain lifelong science and technology learning throughout the community. In an effort to do so, the YES program works with 250 underprivileged teenagers throughout the course of their high school career, providing them with an inquiry-based learning environment that focuses on science, mathematics, and technology. These teens participate in, as well as create, their own projects centered around science and technology in an informal environment. Also, as a part of the program, teens gain professional, academic, and real world skills that assist in building self-confidence and personal success.

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.

Youth Leadership St. Louis – FOCUS
Grades: 11
Youth Leadership St. Louis (YLSL), a program of FOCUS St. Louis, empowers the region's youth to become future community leaders. YLSL is a program for high school juniors that develops leadership skills, promotes teamwork among diverse groups, and provides a deeper understanding of the St. Louis region. The program was designed to provide students with hands-on experiences in the St. Louis region's political, arts, social service, and criminal justice fields. Students have the opportunity to learn and practice leadership skills, such as collaborating, facilitation, problem-solving, and public speaking.