This is a residential program that requires students to live on campus for one week. Minority female 11th grade students with senior classification by September 1997, in the St. Louis Public School System. They should be highly motivated with outstanding achievement in mathematics and science. The Institute includes four days of activities, classes, and lectures all focused on success strategies for college. Students receive a scholarship that covers all institute costs, including room and board.
Participants stay in university residence halls.
Applicants must have successfully completed their sophomore year of high school, be recommended by their high school principal, teacher, or counselor. Academy creates both a curricular and co-curricular learning environment for academically talented high school students. Students take two special-topic seminars for which they receive 2 semester hours of college credit. The courses are intended to provide students with an experience in college-level learning, emphasizing collaboration among students and with the teacher. In each seminar, students work toward fulfillment of a project that requires them to apply various creative and critical strategies.