| Application deadline | November 15, 2026 (2027 cycle) | February 1, 2027 (2027 cycle) | February 12, 2027 (2027 cycle) |
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| Cost | Catalog terms: Free attendance; check separate expenses; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Catalog terms: Free attendance; check separate expenses; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | $600 (2027 cycle) |
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| Financial aid | Last year's cycle (2026): Fellowship project grant: $0–$1,000. Need- and merit-based, discretionary, and not guaranteed; eligible uses include project expenses or compensation for paid work forgone.; Later Research Scholar award: $2,000–$10,000. Historical 2026 Scholar-stage terms: top three received $10,000 and other selected Scholars at least $2,000. This is not guaranteed to a Fellow and 2027 terms are not announced.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | 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): Application: $0. No application fee.; Fellowship project grant: $0–$1,000. Need- and merit-based, discretionary, and not guaranteed; eligible uses include project expenses or compensation for paid work forgone.; Later Research Scholar award: $2,000–$10,000. Historical 2026 Scholar-stage terms: top three received $10,000 and other selected Scholars at least $2,000. This is not guaranteed to a Fellow and 2027 terms are not announced.; 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 | 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 | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Eligibility | Unconfirmed — check official site | Grades 10–11 when applying; summer rising grade is one higher | Grade 10; Grade timing: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Additional eligibility | Ages 14–20; Residency: Applicants may be based almost anywhere, except where UK sanctions or operational payment restrictions prevent participation; Requirement: Meet the age 14-20 and pre-university requirements on the dates stated for the selected Foundations and Fellowship stages; Requirement: Have not started university or other tertiary education; gap-year applicants and applicants who left a course may apply; Requirement: Be able to participate in English; Requirement: Commit at least 10 flexible hours per week for eight weeks; Exclusion: Current university or tertiary-education students; Exclusion: Non-Trivial Ventures employees and their family members; Exclusion: Applicants whose location or status is restricted by applicable UK sanctions | 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 | 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: 8 weeks; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | 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 | Online | In person | In person |
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| Housing and supervision | Non-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 | Applicants from almost anywhere; UK sanctions and payment restrictions apply | Austin, Texas, University of Texas at Austin campus and scheduled Austin or corporate program sites | Columbia |
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| Selection and application | Selection: Non-Trivial plans approximately 600 Research Foundations finalists and about 200 Research Fellows for 2027; final cohort sizes may change and no acceptance rate is published for the cycle. | 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: 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 2026-10-09Source 2 · checked 2026-10-09Source 3 · checked 2026-10-09Source 4 · checked 2026-10-09Source 5 · checked 2026-08-21Source 6 · checked 2026-08-21Source 7 · checked 2026-08-21 | Source 1 · checked 2026-10-10Source 2 · checked 2026-08-20Source 3 · 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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