Summer Springboard Middle School Robotics & Mechanical Engineering

The robotics course fills the morning, from 9:00am until lunch at noon, and that's when you assemble a motorized robot, experiment with gears, wheels and motors, and test your robot on an obstacle course or a hands-on task. Residential students start with breakfast in the dining hall at 8:00am.

After lunch, the 1:30pm slot is either a recreational activity or an off-campus academic excursion linked to the course. From 3:30pm the academic skills lab gives your team extra time on the final engineering challenge you demonstrate at the end of the week. Free time runs from 5:00pm until dinner at 6:00pm, which is when commuter students head home. Residential students then have supervised evening activities such as trivia nights, talent shows and karaoke, are back in the dorm by 8:30pm and have a mentor check-in at 9:30pm.

Everyone, commuters included, checks in on Sunday for orientation, ice-breakers and dinner. All students also tour the University of Michigan campus, and the program includes a visit to the Big House, the university's football stadium.

Summer Springboard takes students aged 12 to 14 who have finished 6th grade by the start of the program and have a 3.0 grade point average or its local equivalent. International students also have to show English proficiency, either in a telephone interview or with a minimum test score.

Beyond that, the bar is about fit rather than competition. The application includes short-answer essay questions and signed agreement forms, and Summer Springboard screens every applicant against its Essential Eligibility Criteria. These ask students to manage their own medications and personal care, share a room, follow instructions in English and walk more than a mile between buildings. Students with some medical, psychiatric or behavioral conditions may be asked for extra documents or a doctor's sign-off. No acceptance rate is published. Courses are filled first come, first served, and some programs close and move to a waitlist as each application deadline passes. Decisions arrive within 5 to 7 business days of a complete application.

Living on campus costs $3,048, which is the $2,798 residential tuition plus the mandatory $250 course supplement, and commuting costs $1,648, which is $1,398 plus the same supplement. Those are the prices Summer Springboard lists for applications made by 30 November 2026, and tuition goes up on 1 December, so check the current figure if you apply after that. A non-refundable application fee comes on top of either option, starting at $99 and rising at later deadlines.

Residential tuition covers your room, all meals, the course and excursions. Commuter tuition covers lunch, the course and excursions during program hours of 9:00am to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday. Flights and health insurance are extra. Summer Springboard's airport pickup costs $95 each way. Students aged 14 or younger at the time of the program must fly as airline unaccompanied minors, and for them Summer Springboard adds $50 each way to the pickup, on top of whatever the airline charges. It also suggests bringing about $100 in spending money for the week.

A $600 deposit, paid when you apply, holds the place. If you apply before 10 March 2027, the balance is split into payments on 10 March, 10 April and 10 May, with a $150 late fee for payments after 10 May. If you cancel before 1 March, you get all tuition back except the application fee. Between 2 March and 1 April you lose the deposit as well, and after that the refund falls to 75% of tuition from 2 April and 25% after 1 May, still minus the deposit and application fee. Nothing comes back after 1 June. An optional Tuition Protection Plan, bought with the application for $699, lets you cancel for any reason up to the start and get back what you've paid, apart from the $699 itself. Need-based scholarships cover up to 30% of residential tuition or up to 60% of commuter tuition, but never the deposit or application fee.

Summer Springboard staff live in the residence halls with the students, and the middle school program runs separately from the high school one, with its own staff, accommodations and schedule and what Summer Springboard calls a more structured environment. Campus Directors hold a bachelor's or master's degree, all program staff go through background checks, and staff are on call 24 hours a day for emergencies.

Rooms are traditional residence hall doubles, assigned by gender, with shared bathrooms. The halls open only with each student's own key card, and University of Michigan Security operates around the clock and patrols the campus and residence halls regularly. Outside classes and excursions, students may move within set campus boundaries in groups of three or more. Every student needs a completed medical form and proof of medical insurance. If a student is sick or hurt, staff take them to the nearest medical facility and call the parents, but the family pays any costs. Phones are allowed but must stay off during program activities.

You leave with a Summer Springboard completion certificate and a letter of recommendation from your instructor, along with the experience of having designed, tested and demonstrated a working creation with a team. Summer Springboard says both documents are earned rather than automatic, and it can withhold them for breaking the Code of Conduct or not taking part.

There's no college credit at the Michigan campus, so the certificate shows you completed a short course rather than earning any academic qualification.

Applications go through Summer Springboard's online enrollment page.

1. 1

   Check Summer Springboard's program availability page to confirm the Michigan middle school robotics course still has places, since courses fill first come, first served.

2. 2

   Enter basic contact details, confirm the verification email, then complete your account and click Create New Application on the dashboard.

3. 3

   Choose the University of Michigan middle school campus, the 11 to 16 July 2027 session, this course and residential or commuter tuition, then enter the student's details.

4. 4

   Finish the application, including the short-answer questions, in about 30 minutes with the student present, and pay the $600 deposit and application fee.

5. 5

   Expect a decision within 5 to 7 business days. Once you're accepted, more forms open, and Summer Springboard won't start reviewing them until every required one is done.

6. 6

   Apply by 21 February 2027 if you can. After that date the application fee rises to $149, and after 18 April 2027 it rises to $199, with some courses closing at each deadline. Enrollment closes on 16 May 2027.