by Updated on | $ Remedial Summer School: Free to $400+ | $ $ Enrichment Summer School: $100-$1,000 | $ $ $ High School Classes on College Campuses: $300-$12,000+ |
Summer school classes are a useful option for students who could benefit from some assistance to work nearer their grade level or enrichment in terms of art classes, computer classes, foreign languages classes, etc.
The summer school classes can also allow middle school or high school students to get a course requirement to pick the desired courses during the regular school year.
Typical Costs
Many public school districts fo no offer summer school at all now due to budget cuts.
Others offer just free or low-cost remedial summer school for invited students at the price of $100-$400.
Ceres Unified School District in California, for example, offers summer school classes for first- to fifth-grade students who take part in the Academic Intervention or English Language Development programs during the school year.
Some schools charge $100-$1,000 per class for enrichment summer school, and the costs vary based on the length and type of course.
The public school programs are usually cheaper than those at private schools.
For kindergarten to fifth-graders the Plano Independent School District in Texas, for example, charges $150 for one two-hour class and $300 for two two-hour classes held four days a week for four weeks.
Their courses range from skill-building offerings like art classes, tennis, math classes or Junior Science Club.
Replacing the elementary-grade summer school enrichment classes, many schools organize summer day camp programs for $50-$300 a week, or $250-$3,000 or more for 8 to 10 weeks, and the public school camps are as expected less expensive than those of the private schools.
Some colleges and universities secure summer classes on-campus for high school students and the costs vary from free for invited students or $300-$12,000 based on the length and type of the classes, the type of the programs: residential or commuter, the status of the host school.
Certain organizations offer specialized summer programs on the MIT campus that are free to invited students.
MIT also provides summer science programs in California and New Mexico for maximum tuition of $4,150 with needs-based financial aid available.
At the same time, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York has a fee of $1,500-$3,000 per high school student for one- or two-week residential career-exploration summer programs on subjects like aerospace engineering or architecture.
Residential high school summer programs in 2013 costed an estimated $7,770-$10,740 at Harvard; $6,469-$11,845 at Yale; and $11,900-$12,800 at Stanford.
Additional Costs
In general, meals might be included for summer programs aimed at remedial or low-income students.
In most cases, however, students will need to bring lunch or buy food on campus.
Shopping For Summer School
- Have a good look and pick the best summer program option based on the need of the children – academic assistance, an opportunity to explore different subjects like computers or arts.
- Check if the class schedules conflict with the family vacations.
- Get information about reliable transportation to and from summer school.
- Find out where are held the summer programs – as a rule the school districts do them at one or a few campuses rather than at all schools.
- Note that the sign-ups for these school programs are on the basis first-come, first-serve.
- Most of the high school summer programs on college and university campuses are competitive and have early application deadlines.
- Summer school classes are remedial – for students who require assistance to work nearer their grade level or enrichment – these are art and computer classes, foreign languages, etc. to allow middle school or high school students to satisfy a course requirement and apply for the desired electives during the regular school year.