High School Summer University FAQs

We've tried to address some of the most frequently asked questions.

You can always reach out with additional questions by emailing highschoolsummer@ucsc.edu.

Holidays Observed

The university administration is closed on July 4 - No classes are held in observance of Independence Day.

The majority of Summer Session classes are five credits and five weeks long. Most meet twice a week for approximately 3.5 hours each. You can go to the exact schedule of the class you are interested in from our courses page.

Our faculty know how challenging 3.5 hours are for attention spans. The classes combine lectures, breaks, group work, discussions, etc. There are also study and review sections in and out of class time. Depending on the type of courses you take, there could be experiments, tours/outings, guest speakers, or sharing/reflecting seminar style.

You can also review former summer syllabi to get a feel for pace, requirements, and grading.

UCSC Academic Advising recommends 2 hours of studying for every 1 hour of class time. More reading-intensive classes might say 3 hours. Art or film could be even longer with time put into developing your work - so this can vary by course too.

A final exam (or paper/project) is due at the end of most courses, and often one midterm during week 3. A typical Summer Session final takes place in the last scheduled class meeting. If the course requires papers or projects, they can be due the last week, sometimes Friday night. There is no separate finals week.

You cannot control sickness, but missing even one day of a five-week class is 1/10 of your course and will result in you losing important course material.

Avoid scheduling anything that would interfere with your class attendance. No accommodations can be made for family vacations.

Students are responsible for their conduct while on campus.

Students and parents/guardians need to understand that High School Summer University is designed to be independent. Both students and parents should evaluate the student’s maturity and readiness for independence before committing to the program.

On-campus university housing is not available for high school summer university students. Students can commute to campus via Metro bus (free with enrollment) or car (purchase a parking pass). Commuter transportation is solely the responsibility of students and/or their parents.

If you registered but never enrolled in classes, no action is required.

If you enrolled in a class, you MUST DROP yourself. If you do not drop yourself from a course, you will be responsible for paying the tuition for it.