WashU Rural Scholars Academy

Become part of a community of scholars

Through activities with your peers, become part of a close-knit community and create new friendships with other highly talented and engaged high school students from rural and small-town high schools across the country! Connect with WashU upper-division students, faculty, and staff who also hail from rural and small-town Heartland communities.

Through a combination of lectures, discussion, and hands-on activities, students will learn about developing interpersonal, leadership, and academic skills. The program will also explore the process for highly-selective university admissions with the guidance of WashU admissions officers. Students will be exposed to the kinds of academic and professional development opportunities available in an urban center through group activities, including social activities, that showcase the city of St. Louis.

The all-expenses-paid program will be hosted on WashU’s campus. All food, housing, and activities will be provided free of charge. Program participants must reside in on-campus housing for the duration of the program.

Program dates

Sunday, July 13 – Saturday, July 19, 2025.

How to apply

Eligibility

Must be a current high school sophomore, who is at least 15 years old or will turn 15 prior to July 1, 2025.
Must attend a rural or small-town high school within the United States.
Students of any citizenship who meet these criteria are eligible to apply.

Submitting the application

Click here to submit the WashU Rural Scholars Academy Application.
The application closes on March 1, 2025.
Applicants will be notified of their decision by early April 2025.
A note on recommenders: While the WashU Rural Scholars Academy application asks for contact information for a recommender, no written letter of recommendation is required. WashU staff will only reach out to recommenders if they need more information about elements of a student’s application. Recommenders are not required to send anything as part of the application, and should not be concerned if they are not contacted.

Free tuition

Thanks to a gift from Washington University in St. Louis alumna and Emerita Trustee Joyce Buchheit and her husband, Chauncy Buchheit, program participants will receive a scholarship to cover the cost of the week-long program including food, housing, and activities.
Participants can apply for funding to cover travel expenses.

How do we define rural and small-town?

We use data from the US Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics to determine which communities are considered to be “rural” or “small-town”. The Heartland Initiative serves high schools in rural or small-town communities within the WashU Pledge territories (Missouri and southern Illinois). Most rural areas have populations of less than 50,000 residents and are located several miles outside of an urban or suburban area. If you are unsure whether your high school would be considered rural or small-town, please contact Dacoda Scarlett at dscarlett@wustl.edu.

Design thinking workshop

This multi-day workshop provides students an overview of approaches to design thinking, which is an experiential, visually oriented process of identifying, creating, and implementing solutions to problems. Together we will study the importance of play and the value it brings to public spaces. Students learn hands-on methods for understanding people, synthesizing gathered information, identifying opportunities for design, prototyping, and communicating key concepts.