Summer Institutes provide in depth coverage of a subject area and hands-on experience in an intensive and holistic format.

UCLA has two types of institutes: Precollege Summer Institutes and College/Professional Summer Institutes. Currently, the Department of Economics only has Precollege offerings but we hope to expand in the future. 

Precollege Summer Institutes are designed for advanced high school students who are 15 years of age or older (by the first day of the Summer Sessions term) and who want to gain an academically challenging college-level experience in a specific subject area. Areas of focus include performing arts, computer science, writing, and more.

College/Professional Summer Institutes are intended for college-level students or working professionals and deliver instruction beyond the traditional classroom experience. Areas of focus include film and television, architecture, media, industrial research, and more.

Yes, all Summer Institutes offer college credit on an official UCLA transcript upon program completion.

For visiting University of California (UC) students, all UCLA summer activity should automatically appear on your home UC campus transcript by mid-November. The grades you earn at UCLA are included in your home UC campus grade-point average (GPA).

Students outside the UC system should verify their school’s credit-granting process. Transfer of credit is at the discretion of the receiving institution.

Schedules and syllabi will be available on the program’s page. While schedules and syllabi may not be listed well in advance if instructors are updating them for the upcoming summer, there may be samples from previous summers for reference. The schedules and syllabi that are posted are updated as changes are made.  Final schedules and syllabi will be sent approximately one month prior to the start date of your program.

This is a rigorous program where students are expected to fully immerse in the course-work and activities. Please do not enroll in these programs if you have a planned vacation, athletic tournament, or other extracurricular activity that will require you to miss more than one day. 

Attendance is mandatory for all things listed on the schedule provided with the exception of office hours. If a student needs to miss a lecture, PLF discussion or other mandatory activity, parents will need to submit the Leave and Curfew Requests online by 5pm PST on the first day of the student’s program. Students are only permitted TWO (2) absences per program. Any more than that and the student will be dropped.

Approval will not be granted if forms are incomplete or submitted by someone other than the student’s parent/guardian. After receiving the request, the staff will contact the parent/guardian for verification purposes.

With approval, students may be absent from the program’s required activities due to medical reasons, emergencies, or personal reasons. However, absences may affect successful performance, and full participation in program activities is essential to your success in the program. Any foreseeable absence from a mandatory activity must receive prior approval via the Leave and Curfew Exception Request Form.

All students commuting and parking on campus must secure a parking permit. During the Summer Session period, space is less impacted and we do not have a Parking Application. Permits are limited and sold to both commuter and dorm students on a first-come, first-serve basis. Students may visit the Bruin ePermit Portal to purchase a Summer Session permit directly. If you choose to get a permit, we suggest parking in P3 or P4.

For 2025, UCLA will be offering commuter and virtual programs only. This means that a residential component will not be included in your enrollment and pricing.

However,  if you will be 17 years old or older on the first day of your program, you may contract independently with UCLA Housing Services. If you have any further questions, please contact UCLA Housing Services at (310) 206-7011 or visit the summer housing page.

Upon completion, all courses that are included in each Summer Institute program’s curriculum will be listed on an official UCLA transcript. The instructor of record must post grades at the end of each session via MyUCLA as instructed by the Registrar’s Office. Once grades are posted, students can view grades on MyUCLA.

Current UC students will have all UCLA summer activity appear automatically on the home UC campus transcript, and the grades earned at UCLA are included in their home UC campus grade-point average. For all other students, a transcript must be ordered online through MyUCLA. Most transcript orders are processed through MyUCLA. However, orders that need special handling or attachments must be processed in person or by mail. Please see the Registrar’s website for more information.

All Precollege Summer Institutes and College/Professional Summer Institutes require students to apply. All institutes will require both a transcript and a value statement. The minimum GPA to apply is a 3.2 cumulative GPA (unweighted) from grade 9 to present. In addition, UCLA Economics requires a short essay with varying prompts vased on the program you are applying to.  All required documents will need to be uploaded during the online registration process. Please see the specific page for each Precollege Summer Institute to review the specific requirements for each program.

If the program instructor has evaluated your application and granted admission to the program, you can enroll by submitting payment of the registration fee.

If you are an international student, a transcript refers to your complete secondary academic record. To learn more about converting your grades into a US-based GPA, please click here.

If your school has a translation/equivalency guide, please also include it with your transcript. If you do not have a translation/equivalency guide, please still submit your most up-to-date transcript as is for staff to review.

Students can enroll in more than one institute as long as they do not overlap in meeting times or conflict with a Summer Session course.

Please make sure to check your course/program of interest and make sure there are no time conflicts.

Each Summer Institute varies in price. Please visit our Fees page and select your program of interest and student type under “I am interested in” to view fees.

Fees can also be reviewed at the bottom of each institute’s page.

Full fees are due by 5pm PDT May 1 for all Summer Institutes programs. If registering for a program after the May 1 payment deadline, the full program fee will be due at the time of enrollment.

You can drop your Summer Institute by accessing your existing registration. You will need the five-digit registration number you received via email. Once you access your registration, select “Drop My Program” on the left hand side.

Note that the registration fee is non-refundable at all times. After June 15, the full fee for the program is no longer refundable if the program is dropped.

The registration fee is non-refundable for Summer Institutes.

Program fees other than the non-refundable registration fee (and the iSTART fee for international students if applicable) are refundable until June 15 for all programs.

No refunds are issued if the program is dropped after the June 15 refund deadline. It is the responsibility of each student to know and comply with Summer Sessions policy and deadlines. Lack of knowledge of the Summer Sessions refund policy and deadlines is not justification for a refund.

For additional FAQs regarding summer institutes, please visit the link below: 

Summer Sessions FAQ