| Application deadline | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Cost | Last year's cycle (2026): $2,500; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Financial aid | Last year's cycle (2026): Need-based scholarship after acceptance: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. First come until funds exhausted; next-cycle terms unknown.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site | Last year's cycle (2026): Need-based fee and participant-travel assistance: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. SSP committed to cover 100% of demonstrated need; exact award depends on family circumstances and may include participant airfare or other required travel.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Expenses and aid conditions | Last year's cycle (2026): Residence hall, meals, linens, laundry, and local program transport: $0. Included in 2026 attendance fee.; Travel to and from West Lafayette: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Participant responsibility, including optional airport shuttles.; Need-based scholarship after acceptance: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. First come until funds exhausted; next-cycle terms unknown.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Last year's cycle (2026): 2026 enrolment deposit: $600. Paid with the application to hold space; future amount and refund terms must be checked.; 2026 non-refundable application fee: $99–$199. Started at $99 and increased to $149 and $199 at later application waves.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Last year's cycle (2026): 2026 application fee: $0. Completely free to apply.; Need-based fee and participant-travel assistance: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. SSP committed to cover 100% of demonstrated need; exact award depends on family circumstances and may include participant airfare or other required travel.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Stipend or pay | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site | Last year's cycle (2026): Lost-wages stipend: $3,000; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Eligibility | Grade 12 (provider uses rising grades) | Grades 9–12; Grade timing: Unconfirmed — check official site | Grade 11 when applying; summer rising grade is one higher |
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| Additional eligibility | Requirement: Be a rising senior in the announced cohort; Requirement: Complete the future application with transcript and accepted standardized scores if still required; Requirement: Recommended for 2026: three high-school math years and one chemistry or physics year; Requirement: Be available for the full residential week; Requirement: Follow Purdue housing, supervision, health, safety, conduct, accessibility, team, media, and travel rules; Exclusion: Assuming 2026 terms recur; Exclusion: Treating recommended coursework as a guaranteed admission threshold; Exclusion: Missing the full session or required application documents; Exclusion: Assuming STEP guarantees Purdue, Engineering Honors, scholarship, credit, recommendation, award, or admission advantage | Requirement: For high-school programmes, have completed eighth grade before the session; Requirement: Normally hold at least a 3.0 GPA or local equivalent; Requirement: Meet campus/course-specific age, health and prerequisite rules; Requirement: International applicants must demonstrate English proficiency; Requirement: Be available for the complete selected session; Exclusion: The aggregate listing does not mean every course is available at every campus; Exclusion: Most host universities do not run, sponsor or endorse the programme; Exclusion: Participation does not confer university admission or generally stated college credit; Exclusion: The 2026 season is closed | Ages 15–18; Requirement: Be a current high-school junior; Requirement: Be at least 15 and not yet 19 during all program dates; Requirement: Complete for credit and a grade by June any high-school physics plus precalculus; Requirement: If the school does not offer physics, complete calculus for credit and a grade by June instead; Requirement: Commit exclusively to the entire assigned residential session; Exclusion: Current freshmen, sophomores and seniors; Exclusion: Self-study used in place of the required graded coursework; Exclusion: Applicants unable to attend the complete assigned session; Exclusion: Applying to more than one SSP project in the same cycle |
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| Session dates or duration | Catalog terms: 1 week; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Catalog terms: 1–2 weeks; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Catalog terms: 5 weeks; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Format | In person | In person / Online | In person |
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| Housing and supervision | Residential. Supervision and housing details: Unconfirmed — check official site | Residential. Supervision and housing details: Unconfirmed — check official site | Residential. Supervision and housing details: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Location | West Lafayette, Indiana, Purdue University campus | New York, Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Washington, Durham, New Haven, Oxford, Multiple campus locations; options change by year | Albion, Milledgeville, McMinnville, River Falls, Waterville, Bethlehem, Galesburg, 2026 campus assigned after admission; campus list can change by cycle |
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| Selection and application | Selection: Rolling review until limited sessions fill; waitlist afterward. No acceptance rate is published. | Selection: Applicants were reviewed against grade, GPA and programme-fit requirements, with decisions normally in 5-7 business days. Capacity was course/session-specific and could close early; no applicant or acceptance totals are published. Application materials: English-proficiency interview or accepted evidence for international applicants | Selection: Admission is limited and holistic. SSP reported about 700 participants admitted across every 2026 track, but did not publish Astrophysics application totals or a track-specific acceptance rate. Application materials: One required recommendation from a current school math or science educator; Optional second recommendation, preferably from a math or science educator |
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| Official sources | Source 1 · checked 2026-08-20Source 2 · checked 2026-08-20Source 3 · checked 2026-08-20 | Source 1 · checked 2026-08-22Source 2 · checked 2026-08-22Source 3 · checked 2026-08-22 | Source 1 · checked 2026-08-22Source 2 · checked 2026-08-22Source 3 · checked 2026-08-22Source 4 · checked 2026-08-22Source 5 · checked 2026-08-20 |
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