High School Students

Why Students Choose High School Summer Pre-College

🏫 Earn UC Credits that Count

Take credit-bearing UC coursework and build your official college transcript before high school graduation. Students can:

• Complete prerequisites
• Satisfy A–G requirements
• Meet future major requirements
• Start earning units toward their degree

🎓 Experience College-Level Learning

Unlike typical enrichment programs, students learn in genuine UC undergraduate classes, side-by-side with UC students. They gain firsthand experience with college expectations, academic rigor, and classroom culture, all while making progress toward a college degree.

📘 Explore Majors and Interests

• Summer is the perfect time to explore a major or take a deep dive into an area of interest. Students strengthen academic skills, like note-taking and time management, and can build technical knowledge in areas such as:
• Math
• Linguistics
• Computational media
• …and many more.

⏳ Flexible Online or In-Person (Commuter) Options

Students choose from classes that are taught:

• Online synchronous: classes that meet at set days and times
• Online asynchronous: completed at your own pace (with regular deadlines)
• In-person: commute to campus for classes

Online courses are just like their face-to-face equivalents and offer the same rigor and expectations. Students are challenged, encouraged to think deeply, and expected to perform undergraduate university-level work and earn the same credits as UC students.

Summer Basics

Summer Session is a 10-week quarter divided into four sessions.. Most classes are offered in an accelerated 5-week format in Session 1 or Session 2. We recommend Session 1 classes to avoid potential conflicts with students’ return to high school classes in the fall:

Students can browse courses by interest track or department and explore past syllabi to understand what to expect.

Summer tuition is charged per credit, with 5 credits being the standard for most classes and the Campus Fee, which is a one-time charge in summer to all students enrolled in classes, both online and in-person.

Online vs. In-Person Commuter: What’s the Difference?

Online Courses
Great for students outside the area or those who prefer flexibility. Courses are just as rigorous as in-person classes and include deep academic engagement.

In-Person Commuter
Experience the undergraduate environment firsthand. Students get access to campus resources like:

• Libraries
• Fitness center
• Campus buses (with UCSC ID card)

(Please note: High school students are not eligible to live in on-campus housing)

Next Steps for Summer 2026

• December:
  • Explore 2026 courses.
• January:
  • Review the Student & Parent Checklist and review summer costs.
• February:
  • Start the Verification Form and Waiver.
• March:
  • Find summer course details in Class Search starting March 15th.
• April
  • Submit the Registration Form.
• May
  • Enroll in your summer course!