| Application deadline | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Cost | $5,793 (2027 cycle) | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Financial aid | Need-based financial assistance for application and program costs: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Based on family income, family size and available COSMOS resources. (2027 cycle) | Unconfirmed — check official site | Need-based aid covering 100% of demonstrated need for admitted students: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Can include round-trip airfare or other travel support; requested after admission. (2027 cycle) |
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| Expenses and aid conditions | Application fee: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Non-refundable; fee waivers can be requested.; Need-based financial assistance for application and program costs: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Based on family income, family size and available COSMOS resources. (2027 cycle) | Catalog terms: Typical participant activity fee: $200–$350. Programs may charge the fee; waivers may be available and some divisions pay it.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Application fee: $0; Need-based aid covering 100% of demonstrated need for admitted students: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Can include round-trip airfare or other travel support; requested after admission. (2027 cycle) |
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| Stipend or pay | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site | Lost-wages stipend for students who typically need to work in summer: $3,000 (2027 cycle) |
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| Eligibility | Grades 9–12 (provider uses rising grades) | Grades 10–11 when applying; summer rising grade is one higher | Grade 11 when applying; summer rising grade is one higher |
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| Additional eligibility | Residency: California high school students only; Requirement: Open to rising grades 9–12; Requirement: Demonstrated academic excellence (a typical COSMOS student has a GPA of 3.5 or above) | Residency: Virginia resident eligible for free public education in the Commonwealth; Residency: Public, private, homeschool, and certain Virginia students attending out-of-state schools follow different nomination procedures; Requirement: Be a current sophomore or junior when applying; Requirement: Be identified as gifted or judged by the school/division to be an advanced competitive applicant; Requirement: Apply through the local school division or private-school coordinator; Requirement: Commit to the full residential session and all scheduled activities; Requirement: JLAB applicants must meet its separate age-16 and U.S.-citizenship requirements; Requirement: Engineering and marine-science applicants benefit from prior knowledge of research design; Exclusion: Prior attendance at a Summer Residential Governor's School; Exclusion: Simultaneous application to another Summer Residential Governor's School or Virginia Foreign Language Academy; Exclusion: Direct individual submission to VDOE or a host university; Exclusion: Students unable to commit to the full residential session except for genuine medical or family emergencies | Minimum age 15; Requirement: Open to students currently in grade 11 when applying; Requirement: At least 15 years old but not yet 19 while the program runs; Requirement: Astrophysics: physics plus precalculus (or calculus without physics); Bacterial Genomics and Cell Biology: biology plus algebra II; Biochemistry: biology plus chemistry plus strong algebra skills |
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| Session dates or duration | Catalog terms: 4 weeks; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Catalog terms: 2.86–3.14 weeks; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Catalog terms: 5 weeks; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Format | In person | In person | 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 | Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, San Diego, Santa Cruz, CA | Blacksburg, Radford, Williamsburg, Lynchburg, Virginia | Assigned university campus; 2027 sites not announced |
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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: Online application with one personal statement; One teacher recommendation (two recommended) | Selection: Competitive two-stage selection: a local school/division committee nominates students and a state committee selects participants. Capacity varies sharply by program, from six Marine Science mentorship seats and 12 Engineering seats to 250 Visual and Performing Arts seats; nomination does not guarantee acceptance. Application materials: Two recommendations; Two essays for academic and mentorship programs | Selection: SSP describes a holistic, contextual and need-blind admission process with limited capacity. It does not promise admission based on grades, prestige, test scores or ability to pay. Application materials: One recommendation from a math or science educator at your school (a second recommendation is highly preferred) |
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| Official sources | Source 1 · checked 2026-10-24Source 2 · checked 2026-10-24Source 3 · checked 2026-10-24Source 4 · checked 2026-08-22Source 5 · checked 2026-08-22Source 6 · checked 2026-08-22Source 7 · checked 2026-08-20 | Source 1 · checked 2026-08-21Source 2 · checked 2026-08-21Source 3 · checked 2026-08-20 | Source 1 · checked 2026-10-24Source 2 · checked 2026-10-24Source 3 · checked 2026-10-24Source 4 · checked 2026-10-24Source 5 · checked 2026-10-24Source 6 · checked 2026-08-22Source 7 · checked 2026-08-20 |
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