What the big summer programmes actually cost

If you have a child in Class 9 or 10, you may already be thinking about what they should do beyond school. A summer course at a university, an Olympiad, MUN, fundraising, perhaps a website or a small venture. Somewhere in that discussion, “would my child enjoy doing this?” gets mixed up with “will this help them get into college?”

I want to examine that second question in this series. What does the student actually do, and what are we being asked to believe about its value? A student who spends months building something useful has work to talk about. Putting up a website and calling yourself CEO tells us very little on its own. The same scrutiny should apply to a competition certificate or a paid course.

We’ll start with expensive summer programmes because the financial commitment makes the question particularly pressing. But the concern runs through much cheaper activities too. Even a free activity costs the student time, and that deserves some thought before their weekends fill up with things they barely care about.

I understand the attraction of a few weeks at a university overseas. Your child gets to study something beyond the school syllabus and spend time away from home. If the course interests them and the family can afford it, that can be a reasonable choice. I would be more cautious when the reason for going is that the university name is expected to do some of the work in a future application.

In this series of posts, we will look at programme costs and selection, then examine the admissions claims. Paid research mentorship gets its own discussion. We will also look at alternatives for younger students, including competitions and opportunities in India. I want a family to be able to decide that a programme is not worth paying for without feeling that their child is missing something essential.

You will hear the phrase “pay-to-play” in these discussions. I would use it carefully. Charging a fee does not establish how difficult admission is, and an application form does not establish that a programme is highly selective. A paid course can teach something worthwhile. What I want to examine is whether the family understands what it is buying, especially when academic teaching, campus experience and admissions expectations get bundled together.

I also don’t want this to become a list of expensive programmes that leaves a Class 9 parent feeling that everything useful is out of reach. We will include funded and low-cost opportunities, and discuss work a student can pursue closer to home. Those options still take effort, and some have demanding entry requirements. There is no reason to assume an overseas summer school should be the starting point for every child.

We will eventually bring the series and a selected comparison of opportunities together in a free guide you can keep or forward to another parent. For this first post, let’s start with the bill. A programme fee is only part of what an Indian family has to budget, and two prices that look comparable can cover quite different things.

Start with the exact programme

“Summer at Harvard” is too broad a description for a budget. Harvard’s Pre-College Program is a two-week, non-credit residential experience. Its official page now lists $6,250 plus a $75 application fee for 2027. That is the programme used here; the figure should not be applied to a different Harvard summer offering.

Columbia provides a useful example of how much the format changes the price. For its 2027 three-week NYC programme, the published residential estimate is $12,838. The three-week commuter estimate is $6,381. Housing and dining are included in the residential figure, along with the listed activities, health services and technology fees. An application fee and any applicable course-specific fees are additional. There is a discrepancy on the current page: the programme sections say $80 for the application, while the separate application-fee section says $95. Confirm that amount before paying. Columbia says these estimates remain subject to approval by its Board of Trustees.

The commuter number is attractive, especially if you already have family nearby. If you don’t, you need to price accommodation and meals, check what arrangements the programme permits for a minor, and work out the daily journey. I would not put a commuter price in a family budget and leave the housing question for later.

Here are a few published prices to make the differences visible. These are programme charges, not complete travel budgets for an Indian family.

Columbia application fee: The page currently gives conflicting application fees of $80 and $95. Neither is treated here as a confirmed final charge.

Babson’s figures come from its programme cost page, read alongside the 2027 programme description. The in-person format is hosted at New England Innovation Academy (NEIA). That is worth knowing before a family imagines where the child will live and study.

A worked example, before the flight

For Babson’s residential option, the $13,375 comprises $6,480 paid to Babson and $6,895 paid to NEIA. The second amount includes the in-person fees, housing and board. Add the $100 application fee and the $100 NEIA registration fee and the listed charges come to $13,575. Babson explicitly says airfare and applicable SEVIS/visa fees are extra.

That gives you a starting point you can check. To turn it into your own total, add the return airfare for the actual dates, insurance where needed, airport transfers and personal spending. If a parent intends to travel too, price that trip separately. It can change the decision quite considerably.

I have kept the overseas fees in dollars because a rupee conversion can look more settled than it is. Use the rate and charges of the bank or payment service you will actually use.

Flights and hotel rooms also depend on the dates and arrangements. I would rather see a family use an actual quote than rely on a single “all-in” number copied from a guide. Keep the quote date beside it and allow room for expenses you have not yet confirmed.

Check aid against your child’s particular format

A programme saying that financial aid exists does not tell you whether your child can receive it, or what the family will still pay. Babson, for example, says its Summer Study tuition scholarships are unavailable for the in-person format. Limited need-based tuition assistance is available for the fully online format. A family planning the residential version should not budget on the assumption that the online aid policy applies to them.

Read the conditions for the exact programme and format, including international eligibility. Then calculate the amount left after an actual award. Until there is an award, I would keep the full published cost in the working budget.

There is another small trap with deposits. Columbia’s $3,500 residential deposit is credited towards the programme cost. Adding it again would overstate the bill. But it is non-refundable, which is a separate concern: ask what money you would lose if plans change before paying it.

The expensive overseas options are only part of the picture

Krea’s Summer School page lists ₹35,000 for a one-week residential programme, including food and accommodation, with sessions in April–May and June 2027. That is a much smaller programme bill than the overseas residential examples above. It doesn’t tell us whether the course is right for your child; it does give a family another price point to examine.

BITS Pilani Goa’s Young Entrepreneurs’ Boot Camp listed ₹22,000 plus a ₹500 application fee for its six-day 2026 programme, including accommodation and meals.

ISRO’s YUVIKA shows a different funding model. Under its published 2026 terms, ISRO bears the cost of course material, lodging and boarding, and reimburses the selected student’s travel within specified limits. Those limits do not amount to an unrestricted promise to pay for any journey the family chooses. The terms and Class 9 eligibility are on the official YUVIKA page.

I am using that as a previous-year example, not announcing a 2027 place or registration window. It also isn’t a substitute for every overseas course. A student interested in space science and a student looking for a particular humanities course are asking different questions. Still, a budget discussion should include opportunities where the family is not expected to fund an expensive residential stay abroad.

For now, pick the exact course your child would attend and write down the payments it requires. Keep the payment dates beside the amounts, including what you would lose if the trip cannot go ahead.

Is it worth doing?

Would I spend this much on a summer school? I would want to know what my child will actually study and whether they want that experience enough to justify the expense. A course can be worthwhile without improving their chances of admission. If the main reason for paying is an expected admissions advantage, I would hold off until we have examined that claim.

Next week, we’ll look at who actually runs these programmes and how students get in. A university name in the description can refer to very different arrangements, and “applications reviewed” tells us less about selectivity than it might seem. Those details will help us judge what the fee is buying.

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