The Michigan Ross Summer Business Academy
June 13 - 27, 2025
The Michigan Ross Summer Business Academy gives rising high school seniors the opportunity to discover business from the inside out. Explore how companies run, understand how leaders solve problems, and experience what it’s like to be a business student at Michigan Ross.
The 2025 Summer Business Academy application window has closed.
This two-week pre-college program is designed for highly motivated students who want to explore their interest in business.
Gain a deeper understanding of how businesses work and explore potential career paths.
Learn alongside a cohort of high-achieving peers.
Experience the collaborative, action-based learning environment at Michigan Ross.
Interact with Ross faculty, company partners, and industry field experts.
Learn more about what it means to be an impactful business leader.
What You'll Experience
Led by faculty across multiple functional areas of business, you will explore what makes high-performing companies so successful. You will also complete rigorous, college-level academic work through classes and workshops. However, no college credit is offered, and participation does not secure or influence admission to the Michigan Ross BBA program.
You are expected to participate in all aspects of the Summer Business Academy.
A typical weekday schedule may include:
Attend a morning class session led by one of our faculty members.
Grab lunch and collaborate on group projects.
Return for an afternoon class session led by a faculty member.
Attend an organized activity, or participate in a guest speaker lecture or workshop.
Break for dinner and take time to make progress on group work.
Choose from a number of different mentor-planned social activities or catch up on studying.
Summer Business Academy programming will also include evening and weekend programming. Costs for all plans will be covered by the program fee.
Program Fee
The Summer Business Academy program fee is $5,500. The cost of the program covers all program events, speakers, course materials, and Michigan Ross apparel.
Scholarships
The Summer Business Academy will provide a number of full and partial need-based scholarships for students accepted to this program. Students may apply for scholarships within the online application.
All students who meet the eligibility requirements are welcome to apply. We especially encourage applicants from resource-limited households, first-generation students, and others who may have had minimal exposure to business leadership concepts, experiences, and networks.
- Rising 12th-grade students at the time of the program
- Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0
- Preference will be given to U.S. citizens or permanent residents
- This includes two essays of 300 words or less and a completed recommendation form. To ensure the fairness of all applicants, please do not use Generative AI tools to complete any of your application materials.
- Submit a copy of your most recent high school transcript.
- An unofficial transcript will be accepted for admissions decisions, though an official transcript must be provided to enroll.
- Pay the non-refundable application fee of $75. Inquiries regarding application fee waivers should be directed to [email protected].
Application Deadline: Jan. 21, 2025 at 3 p.m. EST
Scholarships will be determined with a holistic review and will be based on an applicant’s need. Full and partial scholarships may cover the cost of travel for students located more than 100 miles from the University of Michigan. All applicants will answer questions within the application about household income and affordability. Applicants interested in receiving a scholarship must complete the scholarship essay, which will be used in the review process to determine scholarship award recipients.
Students who are not seeking scholarship can leave the question blank and we will consider your application complete.
After completing the application, applicants seeking an application fee waiver should email their request to [email protected].
Preference will be given to U.S. citizens, permanent U.S. residents, and Canadian residents. However, additional international students are welcome to apply for consideration if space is available. The University of Michigan will not sponsor visas for the Summer Business Academy.
Please email [email protected] for application support.
You will have the ability to invite a recommender during your application process. Once invited, your recommender will receive a recommendation form directly linked to your application. You’ll be notified via email when the recommendation is completed, and it will be visible in your application portal.
A separate recommendation letter is not required.
We will welcome up to 72 students.
After submitting your application, you should receive a confirmation email with instructions to pay the application fee.
We must receive your application fee payment by January 24 at 11:59 p.m. EST for your application to be considered complete by the deadline.
If you would like to request an application fee waiver, please email [email protected]
All admissions decisions for the Summer Business Academy will be released by March 7, 2025. All applicants must accept within two weeks of receiving their acceptance.
Once accepted, participants will receive the registration details, a packing list, scholarship information (if applicable), and travel information.
The SBA team will typically respond within 2-3 business days. During busy times of the academic year responses may be delayed. We appreciate your patience.
Participants will stay in a residence hall on the U-M Ann Arbor campus.
Participants are expected to stay on campus during the duration of the program, including weekends.
Participants must be available for the entire duration of the program.
Questions about the Summer Business Academy can be directed to [email protected] or 734-647-7877.
