| Application deadline | Unconfirmed — check official site | February 1, 2027 (2027 cycle) | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Cost | Last year's cycle (2026): $5,518; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Catalog terms: Free attendance; check separate expenses; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Last year's cycle (2026): $6,450–$9,950; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Financial aid | Last year's cycle (2026): 2026 need-based application and program assistance: Up to $5,564. Could assist with the $46 application fee and $5,518 program cost based on family income, family size and available funds; actual award not guaranteed.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site | Last year's cycle (2026): 2026 need-based tuition discount: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. 10-80% discount online or 10-50% San Francisco; no full rides; parents' prior 12 months of income statements required. 2027 availability TBC.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Expenses and aid conditions | Last year's cycle (2026): 2026 COSMOS application fee: $46. Nonrefundable; pending fee-waiver review could change when or whether payment was required.; Credit-card transaction fee on program payments: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Approximately 2.5% when paying program costs by credit card; application fee exempt.; 2026 need-based application and program assistance: Up to $5,564. Could assist with the $46 application fee and $5,518 program cost based on family income, family size and available funds; actual award not guaranteed.; Full-financial-aid attendance deposit: $200. Required only for admitted students offered full aid and refunded to the legal guardian after successful completion.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Catalog terms: On-campus boarding: $0. Funders cover boarding in the latest published cycle; room type, deposit, damage, linen, accessibility, and early-arrival terms await the next cycle.; Program food: $0. Funders cover food; exact meal plan, snacks, travel-day meals, allergies, and dietary accommodations are not published for 2027.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Last year's cycle (2026): 2026 enrollment deposit: $700. Nonrefundable, credited toward tuition, and due within 14 days of acceptance.; 2026 need-based tuition discount: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. 10-80% discount online or 10-50% San Francisco; no full rides; parents' prior 12 months of income statements required. 2027 availability TBC.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Stipend or pay | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Eligibility | Grades 9–12 (provider uses rising grades) | Grades 10–11 when applying; summer rising grade is one higher | Grades 9–12; Grade timing: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Additional eligibility | Residency: Attend high school in person in California; Requirement: Be rising into grade 9, 10, 11 or 12 for the program fall year; Requirement: Attend high school in person in California; Requirement: Demonstrate academic excellence and preparation for the selected STEM cluster; Requirement: Complete cluster-specific course prerequisites; Requirement: Live on the host UC campus for the full program; Requirement: Be a first-time COSMOS participant; Exclusion: Students not attending a California high school in person; Exclusion: Students who previously attended any COSMOS program; Exclusion: Applicants outside the rising-grade 9-12 range; Exclusion: Applicants unable to live on campus for the full program; Exclusion: Late application, supporting, payment or admission materials; Exclusion: Assuming a 3.5 GPA is an absolute statewide minimum rather than the published typical profile | Residency: Current Texas high-school student; Requirement: Be a current high-school sophomore or junior during the application cycle; Requirement: Demonstrate interest in business, accounting, and/or leadership development; Requirement: Present a strong academic record and personal achievement in context; no universal GPA cutoff is published; Requirement: Complete the official online application, transcript, activities and leadership section, essay or essays, and recommendation by the announced deadline; Requirement: Be available for the entire six-day residential program, family orientation, dorm stay, classes, team work, case competition, networking, and closing activities; Requirement: Be prepared to work respectfully with students of varied backgrounds and follow UT, McCombs, housing, minor, conduct, safety, privacy, and academic-integrity rules; Exclusion: Students who are not current high-school sophomores or juniors under the next cycle's classification rule; Exclusion: Missing or late required transcript, essay, recommendation, activity, leadership, consent, or verification materials; Exclusion: Inability to attend the full residential session without an approved accommodation; Exclusion: Assuming first-generation status, hardship, identity, Texas residence, strong grades, early application, or accounting experience guarantees selection; Exclusion: Treating the encouragement of first-generation and hardship-affected applicants as an exclusion of other backgrounds; Exclusion: Using unverified third-party 2027 dates or deadline as official; Exclusion: Assuming participation confers UT or McCombs admission, academic credit, scholarship, internship, or employment | Requirement: Be a high-school student/teen applicant; Requirement: Commit full time to the four-week program and team startup work; Requirement: Show interests, passions, initiative, drive, problem solving, and collaboration in the application; Requirement: No prior business or coding knowledge is required; Requirement: Residential students must live in program housing; no commuter option was offered in 2026; Exclusion: The current pages do not publish an exact age range, grade-by-grade rule, citizenship restriction, visa service, English-proficiency standard, or 2027 eligibility terms; Exclusion: A priority-list signup does not confer admission; Exclusion: Admission and financial aid are reviewed separately; no full-ride aid was offered in 2026 |
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| Session dates or duration | Catalog terms: 4 weeks; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Catalog terms: 1 week; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Catalog terms: 4 weeks; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Format | In person | In person | In person / Online |
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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 | Davis, California, Irvine, California, Los Angeles, California, Merced, California, San Diego, California, Santa Cruz, California, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Merced, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz | Austin, Texas, University of Texas at Austin campus and scheduled Austin or corporate program sites | San Francisco, Berkeley, San Francisco Bay Area residential program hosted at UC Berkeley in 2026, Online worldwide |
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| Selection and application | Selection: Each of six campuses accommodates roughly 160-200 students, and clusters typically enroll 20-25 with a commonly reported 5:1 student-to-faculty ratio. Admissions are competitive and based on academic merit relative to the selected topic, but applicant count and statewide acceptance rate were not published. Application materials: One personal statement; One required teacher recommendation, with two recommended | Selection: McCombs describes desired qualities but publishes no current applicant count, cohort size, acceptance rate, fixed GPA cutoff, identity quota, geographic quota, scoring rubric, interview process, or waitlist policy. Historical cohort figures must not be treated as a future guarantee. Application materials: One or more essays following the current prompts and word limits; One letter of recommendation from an eligible recommender under current instructions | Selection: Leangap reviews applicants for fit using motivation, initiative, collaboration, problem solving, skills, and impact. Each 2026 format was limited to 40 seats, but no applicant count or acceptance rate is published. Application materials: Parents' income statements for the prior 12 months when requesting need-based aid |
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| Official sources | Source 1 · checked 2026-08-22Source 2 · checked 2026-08-22Source 3 · checked 2026-08-22Source 4 · checked 2026-08-22Source 5 · checked 2026-08-22Source 6 · checked 2026-08-22Source 7 · checked 2026-08-20 | Source 1 · checked 2026-10-10Source 2 · checked 2026-08-20Source 3 · checked 2026-08-20 | Source 1 · checked 2026-08-21Source 2 · checked 2026-08-21Source 3 · checked 2026-08-21Source 4 · checked 2026-08-20 |
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