High School Counselor Resources

Eligibility

• High school students who have completed their sophomore or junior year with a GPA of 3.0+.

Freshman Exception

The transition from high school to college coursework is significant, which is why we recommend that students complete their sophomore or junior year of high school before taking summer classes. Still, we acknowledge that individual high school students can be ready for this transition earlier. To qualify for an exception, a student must:

• Have completed a minimum of one year of high school
• Be a minimum of 14 years old
• Meet the 3.0 GPA requirement 
• Understand that any grades you receive will go on your permanent academic record 
• Have your high school counselor or principal agree to the exception on your DocuSign Verification Form

Costs

• $279 per credit + the mandatory Campus Fee of $344.90, charged once per quarter. Most classes are 5 credits so the cost for a 5 week, 5-credit class would be $1,739.90.
• If students commute via car, there would be an additional parking pass expense, but a Metro bus pass is included in their enrollment. 

• Please add us to your summer programs/opportunities (see text for listing or include in your newsletters.

Schedule a presentation

• Summer Session is happy to present in-person or virtually to your class, table at your event, or visit your career center. Please add us to your contact list or email highschoolsummer@ucsc.edu to schedule (please note: our office is separate from UC Santa Cruz admissions). 

Courses

• High school students are eligible to enroll in all sessions, but we cannot accommodate for student vacations or return to high school in the fall. We recommend Summer Session 1 to avoid potential conflicts.
• Beginning in early December, we publish our 2025 suggested courses by interest tracks or on our courses page. Some courses may require pre-approval.
• Explore previous years’ syllabi to see the pace and course load of specific courses.

Math overview

• Math 2 and 3 are general mathematics courses at the precalculus level. Math 2 is College Algebra, and Math 3 is Precalculus
• Math 11A, 11B, 19A, 19B, 20A, 20B, 22, 23A, and 23B are the calculus courses. Math 11A is Calculus with Applications I, and 11B is Calc 2.  Math 19A is Calculus for the Sciences, Mathematics & Engineering I, and 19B is Calc 2
• Math 21 is Linear Algebra, and Math 24 is Ordinary Differential Equations

While prerequisites and restrictions on math courses are lifted for visiting high school students, it is always in students’ best interest to have met them

Interest tracks

• Art, Music, and Theater
• Business, Economics, Entrepreneurship
• Engineering
• Film, Photography and Digital Media
• Ocean and Marine Studies
• Pre-Law and Politics
• Pre-Med, Pre-Dental and Public Health