OVERVIEW

Through the Academic Year program, high schoolers from all over the world will prepare for the college experience through exploratory online coursework and extra-academic activities during the fall and spring.

Cohorts meet twice a week either Mon/Wed or Tues/Thurs for one to 1.5-hour sessions, where students are normally given a ten-minute break halfway through each class meeting.

As a program participant, you will:

  • Learn from scholars and academics who are experts in their fields and university students who will guide you through the curriculum
  • Build a community of lifelong connections
  • Participate in extra-academic activities
  • Differentiate yourself with a Berkeley Certification of Participation and a personalized evaluation letter.
  • Meet and engage with fellow students and teachers from across the United States, and all over the world.
  • This highly selective program is open to academically motivated high school students, grades 10–12 and gap year students.

PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH

While course instructors do provide a significant amount of substantive instruction, students learn largely by engaging directly with the subject matter. Classes are experiential and collaborative. Through activities such as simulations, workshops, meetings with guest speakers, assigned readings, and individual and group projects, students are encouraged to think logically, independently, critically, and creatively. Undergraduate Berkeley Teaching Assistants guide them in learning how to do so. Even more important than the particular knowledge participants gain in any of these classes is the ability to think with both open-mindedness and precision about complex and challenging material. We believe that this skill will be essential to them, not only in their academic career, but also in their lives as world citizens and future leaders.

GRADES, EVALUATIONS, AND CREDIT

The Academic Year Program for High School Students is academically rigorous; courses do not carry college credit.

Grades are assigned periodically throughout the program. Upon successful participation in the program, students receive an official University of California Berkeley Certificate of Participation and written evaluations from their teaching assistants.

Evaluations and Certificates of Participation are typically issued within 6-8 weeks from the end of the program.

ATTENDANCE

Because learning in our courses is largely based on what takes place in class meetings, it is important that students attend all class sessions. A student who misses multiple class sessions may not receive a Certification of Participation, even if those absences are excused. Unexcused absences can lead to dismissal from the program. Attendance is carefully monitored.

THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM

Through Berkeley’s leading online interactive learning platform Canvas,  which has been a hallmark of our undergraduate classes, students across the globe can engage with one another through rigorous curricular instruction and informative college success events.

Additional information, including technological requirements, can be found on the FAQ page.

COMMUNITY STANDARDS & ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Program participants are expected to function, both intellectually and in terms of maturity, at the level of University students.

The University of California Berkeley Haas takes matters of intellectual integrity very seriously. Plagiarism is not tolerated. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, submitting work done by another person or purchased from any source; failure to document ideas found in sources, whether print or electronic, with appropriate notes and bibliographical references; failure to enclose borrowed phrases or sentences within quotation marks; and turning in the same assignment for two courses without advance permission from both instructors.

Plagiarism, whether intentional or unintentional, will result in dismissal from the program. Students who are unsure about the proper presentation of their work should consult their TA.