| Application deadline | Unconfirmed — check official site | February 12, 2027 (2027 cycle) |
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| Cost | Last year's cycle (2026): $700–$1,175; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | $600 (2027 cycle) |
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| Financial aid | Last year's cycle (2026): 2026 SYP need-based, named and sponsored support: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Eligibility, value and covered expenses varied; several sponsored Pathways were no-cost, while other awards were partial or location-specific.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | 2027 need-based scholar-fee waiver: $0–$600. Limited waivers may be requested by students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch who do not have a sponsor. (2027 cycle) |
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| Expenses and aid conditions | Last year's cycle (2026): 2026 Exploration enrollment deposit: $150. Historical nonrefundable per-course deposit; Pathway applications required no deposit.; Course-specific lab/material fee: $0–$1,500. Historical published range among examples; many courses had no added fee, while Advanced Build: Gaming Computer added $1,500.; 2026 SYP need-based, named and sponsored support: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Eligibility, value and covered expenses varied; several sponsored Pathways were no-cost, while other awards were partial or location-specific.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | 2027 need-based scholar-fee waiver: $0–$600. Limited waivers may be requested by students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch who do not have a sponsor. (2027 cycle) |
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| Stipend or pay | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Eligibility | Grades 6–11; Grade timing: Unconfirmed — check official site | Grade 10; Grade timing: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Additional eligibility | Requirement: Use the student's current or most recently completed grade, not the upcoming fall grade; Requirement: Select a course whose listed grade band includes that grade; Requirement: For a Pathway, complete its selective application and supplemental-document requirements; Requirement: Meet any program-specific citizenship, academic, health or safety requirement; Exclusion: Current grade-12 students, early-middle-college students and secondary-school graduates are ineligible; Exclusion: Some Pathways exclude international participants or impose U.S.-citizenship rules | Residency: Missouri resident attending high school in Missouri or homeschooled in Missouri; Requirement: Be a current tenth grader during nomination for summer participation as a rising junior; Requirement: Receive a nomination from a counselor, teacher, principal, or other school official, except eligible homeschool self/family nomination; Requirement: Fit within the school's MSA nomination allotment; Requirement: Provide three-semester unweighted GPA and an accepted standardized aptitude or IQ score; Requirement: Demonstrate leadership, creativity, intellectual curiosity, problem solving, initiative, and likely benefit; Requirement: Commit to the full three-week residential Academy without planned absence; Exclusion: Students and families may not self-nominate outside homeschool settings; Exclusion: Incomplete nominations are not considered; Exclusion: Parents and guardians cannot write recommendation letters; Exclusion: MSA provides neither grades nor academic credit; Exclusion: Nomination does not guarantee selection, course choice, roommate choice, fee waiver, college scholarship, or admission advantage |
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| Session dates or duration | Catalog terms: 1 week; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Starts June 13, 2027; Ends July 3, 2027; 3 weeks (2027 cycle) |
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| Format | In person | In person |
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| Housing and supervision | Unconfirmed — check official site | Residential. Supervision and housing details: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Location | Houghton, Michigan, Michigan Technological University campus; supervised live-in or commuter participation | Columbia |
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| Selection and application | Selection: Standard Explorations enrolled in order received while seats remained. Pathways used grades, short responses and supplemental documents; no portfolio-wide applicant count or acceptance rate is published. Application materials: Unofficial transcript, short responses and a recommendation/certificate/other evidence where required by the Pathway | Selection: School nomination allotments limit the pool, a statewide committee evaluates academic and qualitative criteria, and about 330 scholars are expected in 2027. MSA does not publish a current nomination count or acceptance rate. Application materials: Two PDF recommendation letters, at least one from a teacher and none from parents or guardians; Two named PDF essays of 300-350 words responding to the current character-identification and social-issue prompts |
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| Official sources | Source 1 · checked 2026-08-21Source 2 · checked 2026-08-21Source 3 · checked 2026-08-21Source 4 · checked 2026-08-21Source 5 · checked 2026-08-21Source 6 · checked 2026-08-21Source 7 · checked 2026-08-21Source 8 · checked 2026-08-21Source 9 · checked 2026-08-20 | Source 1 · checked 2026-10-12Source 2 · checked 2026-08-22Source 3 · checked 2026-08-22Source 4 · checked 2026-08-22Source 5 · checked 2026-08-20 |
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