<p>I have been wanting to attend a summer program this year but they are just to costly (about $8000 each). I have no clue on how I am going to pay for it because I definitely cannot afford it. I do not know anything about financial aid either but I am planning to apply to the Summer Session for Columbia and they don't seem to give financial aid to high school students for the summer term. So is there any other way to pay for the program? Any help at all would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I have done some extensive research in this area and the answer is basically -- no aid for summer programs for high school students. There is a possibility that some local organizations might give you money if you approached them (Rotary, Kiwanis, etc) but we have never tried that.</p>
<p>Our family is low-income and what my son has done is to only apply to those programs that grant significant financial aid -- Columbia is not one of them, as much as he would like to attend that summer program, it is not an option for us.</p>
<p>There are quite a few summer programs that do offer financial aid -- but the competition is quite harsh. I am not sure what your stats are or what your family income level is, but the stats need to be very high and the income low -- or they don't offer you much money.</p>
<p>Just to give you an idea -- my son has a 3.9 GPA in mostly college classes, fantastic EC's including several national awards, fantastic recommendations and our income level is below $30,000. He usually does get significant aid -- but he works his tail off at his job just to pay the airfare.</p>
<p>Start doing some research on summer programs and see what is out there -- google high school summer programs and just check each link to see what the policies are. If it isn't mentioned, email them and ask.</p>
<p>Harvard SSP gives out great aid. I was in your same situation last year, but they gave me $4400 in aid, enabling me to go. I encourage you to apply there; the program is absolutely terrific, and I know some people who even went there for free.</p>
<p>that is good to know about Harvard -- my son took a distance learning course from them on scholarship and loved it. I will have him apply.</p>
<p>I read this on their website: "SSP financial aid cannot cover all expenses, and only rarely does it cover any portion of room-and-board fees."</p>
<p>That is why I thought that they didn't give out that much financial aid. Even just paying room and board is beyond what our family can pay.</p>