Summer Discovery UBC Sauder School of Business

Every student takes the same morning course, Business Fundamentals: Leadership for the Future, followed by one afternoon elective. You pick either Investment Fundamentals, which builds to a team stock pitch on a publicly traded company, or Marketing and Brand Strategy, which builds to a team brand campaign.

Summer Discovery's sample day for its residential programs puts the morning class at 9:30 to 11:30 AM and the afternoon class at 1:00 to 3:00 PM, with a long lunch in between. From 3:30 PM you're free for activities or study. Dinner is at 6:00 PM and evening activities start around 8:00 PM. Students are back in the residence hall by 10:30 PM and in their rooms by midnight.

Activities run every afternoon and evening and all weekend, and they're included in tuition. For Vancouver, Summer Discovery lists outings such as Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, hiking in Pacific Spirit Regional Park, Granville Island Market and a bike tour of the Stanley Park seawall.

UBC Sauder School of Business faculty and industry experts teach the courses, and Summer Discovery says the program is developed and academically led by UBC Sauder. Teaching mixes lectures, simulations, case studies and faculty-led workshops with team projects. At the end of the two weeks, students present their ideas to faculty and industry guests at a final showcase.

Summer Discovery doesn't name the instructors or publish a class size for this campus. In its own 2026 surveys, students across the broader program rated the classroom experience 4.6 out of 5, and more than 4 out of 5 students in the 2026 UBC Sauder program recommended it.

You can apply if you've completed 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade, so a student who has just graduated from high school is eligible, and so is one who has just finished 9th grade. You don't need any business coursework or specialized software, but you should be comfortable with standard spreadsheets and presentations. The finance elective also expects you to work with numbers and explain your reasoning to classmates.

Your application goes in with a US$100 fee that's never refunded. Summer Discovery then tells you whether you've been accepted, and only after that do you enroll and pay a deposit. It doesn't publish selection criteria, an acceptance rate or a cohort size for this campus.

Everyone leaves with a Summer Discovery Certificate of Completion and the case analyses and leadership-simulation work from the core course. On top of that, the finance elective gives you your team's valuation and stock-pitch presentation, and the marketing elective gives you a team-built brand campaign and final pitch.

Summer Discovery lists no college credit for these courses, and the certificate comes from Summer Discovery, not UBC. Across its programs, Summer Discovery posts an individual performance report for each course a few weeks after the program ends, and it mails reports to a school only when a parent asks in writing. Nothing from UBC says whether, or how, any of this counts in admissions.

The residential option costs US$6,599 and the commuter option US$4,999. Summer Discovery lists these prices in US dollars even though the campus is in Canada. Residential tuition covers classes, a dorm room with a baseline meal plan, activities and excursions every afternoon and evening and all weekend, and transport to included activities. Whichever you choose, the US$100 application fee comes on top. Flights, airport transfers, medical costs and spending money are extra too. Summer Discovery also notes that some courses carry extra academic fees, so it's worth asking whether either elective does.

If you enroll before 31 January 2027, the deposit is US$1,900. It rises to US$2,500 from 1 February and to US$3,500 from 1 April, and anyone enrolling from 1 April has to pay in full at enrollment. Everyone else pays the balance by 1 April 2027. Paying by card adds a 3.5% surcharge, while an eCheck from a US bank account costs nothing extra.

Families have to arrange medical and baggage insurance, and Summer Discovery also sells an optional, non-refundable Travel Protection Plan. Cancellation fees rise through the spring, as the table shows, and there's no refund at all after 1 June 2027.

Students are under Summer Discovery staff supervision at all times and can't leave campus on their own. These are Summer Discovery's rules for all its campuses, and its safety and security policy sets them out in full.

• Staff

  Staff are on duty 24 hours a day. Resident Counselors are at least 20, background-checked and trained by Summer Discovery, and they live on the residence floors.

• Curfew and checks

  Students have to be in their rooms by midnight. Staff check rooms every night and run daily sign-ins, and students wear their ID on a lanyard at all times.

• Getting around

  Students get a map of a set home area and can walk within it in small groups. Staff always go with them on off-campus trips.

• Health

  Residential students can get medical care around the clock. Staff take students to appointments and tell parents afterward, and they store and hand out all medication, including over-the-counter medicine.

• Conduct

  Harassment, bullying or fighting can get a student sent home with no refund, and the family pays for the trip home.