Skip to agency navigation
Skip to main content

Official Website

of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    The .gov means its official.

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 
    Elementary and Secondary Education

    Governor's Schools

    ​The Pennsylvania Gove​rnor’s School is a summer program offered at Carnegie Mellon University and provides rising high school seniors​ with hands-on training and research in the sciences, technology, and engineering.  Below is a link to obtain additional information.

    Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University

    Program Criteri​a

    The term “Pennsylvania Gov​​ernor’s School” refers to a program receiving state financial support or receiving official endorsement from the state through non-financial in-kind services due to budgetary restraints.

    Only endorsed Pennsylvan​​​ia Governor’s Schools may use the title and the Governor’s Schools logo for advertising. 

    All Pennsylvania G​​overnor’s School must adhere to the following criteria:

    Length of Progra​​m: The Pennsylvania Governor’s School is an intensive, five-week summer residential program, which emphasizes cooperative learning, hands-on laboratory research, and experience working with leading experts and university staff.   

    Student Scholarshi​​ps:  All students accepted in the program are awarded scholarships, which cover the costs of housing, meals, and all instructional materials. Families are responsible for transportation to and from the university, personal items, and spending money. Students accepted into the program must commit to living on the university campus throughout the duration of the program.

    Eligibility:  Ac​​a​​demically talented high school students, who are residents of Pennsylvania and current juniors at the time of the application deadline, and who attend a public, nonpublic, or private school or are homeschooled are eligible to apply.

    State Financial / In-kind Support: The Governor’s School five-week summer residential programs cost per student can be extremely high d​​ue to the following requirements imposed on the hosting universities, such as: a separate secure dormitory for the Governor School’s students and residential staff, meals, security, facility usage fees, faculty and support staff stipends, and the highly specialized components, features, and cutting-edge technology. All Governor’s Schools receiving state financial support are required to meet the terms of that current grant. Due to budgetary restraints the State may choose to provide only non-financial in-kind support.

    Advertising Governor’s School: The Pennsylvania Department of Education leadership team will advertise the state-approved and spo​​nsored Governor’s School on their Pennsylvania Department of Education website and/or use the Intermediate Support staff to assist in promoting the programs of study. Information will also be shared through Penn*Link. All criteria listed in the Governor’s School guidelines must be met for this public advertisement.

    Use of L​​ogo: Only state sponsored programs may use the Governor’s School state logo.

    Housing and mea​ls: All students and residential staff should be housed in a secure dormitory on the main campus of the university hosting the Governor’s School. Access to the dormitory should be by coded magnetic card-swipe and is restricted to only student and residential staff who live in the assigned dorm. All Governor’s School students should have a roommate of the same gender and should be housed on a gender-separate floors (males on one floor, females on another floor). All meals will be taken in campus dining facilities. 

    Background Checks for Faculty and Residential Staff: All members of the Governor’s School Faculty and Residential staff will be requir​ed to undergo both Act 34 Criminal Background Checks and Act 151 Child Abuse Clearances as a condition for hiring. Additional or adapted clearances might be required in future years.