University of Illinois School of Architecture Discover Architecture

You build a series of short, hands-on design projects in introductory drawing and modeling. In 2025, Professor John Clark's team started students with sketching tours of campus, then had them build walls from folded paper modules and trace over photos of their models to turn them into drawings.

Teams then laid out full-size floor plans of four contemporary houses in colored tape on the floor of Temple Buell Hall, so you could walk through the rooms and feel their scale. After that came bridges made of spaghetti and hot glue, loaded with weights until they broke, as a lesson in truss design. A day trip took the group to Columbus, Indiana, including a tour of Eero Saarinen's Miller House, and the week closed with an exhibition of everyone's work on the final morning.

The trip destination isn't fixed, and the 2024 group went to St. Louis instead to see Cahokia Mounds, the City Museum and the Wainwright Building. For day-to-day details, the school points families to its 2026 program guide, which it says may change for 2027.

School of Architecture faculty teach the program alongside current architecture students, so you can ask people a few years ahead of you what the degree is really like. Professor John Clark led the teaching team in 2024 and 2025. La Tanya Cobb, the school's associate director for student services, was a contact for the 2026 program, and Elizabeth Abosch (eabosch2@illinois.edu, 217-333-7720) is the contact for 2027. Each week takes at most 48 students.

Any student going into 10th, 11th or 12th grade who applies and pays in time gets a place, because the school admits students first-come, first-served until each week reaches 48. There's no essay, portfolio, grade requirement or prior drawing experience asked for, and the program welcomes students who are set on architecture as well as those just wondering whether it's for them. The catch is timing. Applications close once the program is full, which the school says usually happens at the end of May, so a late application can miss out.

The 2027 fee is $1,300, which covers lodging, meals, a program T-shirt and the tools and supplies you'll need. You pay it in two parts, a $100 nonrefundable application fee when you apply and the $1,200 balance after you're accepted, by check or credit card.

The school gives no refunds or credits for canceling, missed days or partial attendance, so it's worth being sure of your summer plans before you pay.

The Kenneth Jacobs Memorial Scholarship covers partial tuition for two students attending the program. To be considered, you apply to the program, pay the $100 fee and send a one-page, double-spaced essay on why you want to become an architect and your goals for the future, all before applications close. The school doesn't say how much the scholarship is worth.

The school collects each student's health details before the week starts through a required medical form, which has to arrive at least two weeks before the program. It covers medications, allergies, immunizations and insurance, and a parent signs it to authorize Carle Clinic, Carle Hospital or other providers to give medical care in an emergency if parents can't be reached. The school also has an online food allergy form for students with food allergies. The application asks about gender for room assignments, but the school doesn't describe staffing levels, curfews or rooming arrangements in detail, so those are worth asking Elizabeth Abosch about before you commit.

You apply through the School of Architecture's online registration form, which stays open until the program is full.

1. 1

   Choose one week, either 6 to 12 June or 11 to 17 July 2027, since both teach the same courses and the school asks you to sign up for only one.

2. 2

   Fill in the form with student, parent and school details, including the name, title and email of a teacher or counselor.

3. 3

   Pay the $100 nonrefundable application fee by check or by credit card online, because your application only counts as complete once the form and the fee are both in.

4. 4

   Pay the remaining $1,200 once the school accepts you.