The Visiting Scholars year is for students looking to take a gap year while taking university-level courses that are designed to help you develop foundational knowledge and transferable skills that will set you up for success down the road.
Through the courses offered through the Cornerstone Curriculum Certificate program, students strengthen their abilities to think critically and creatively and communicate and interact effectively — skills needed to succeed in future academic and professional endeavors. Visiting Scholars also take an Integrated Learning course that provides students with tools to integrate their classroom learning with effective citizenship in a diverse multicultural society.
Highlights
- Small dialogue-based seminars accessible from anywhere in the world
- Tuition for the academic year 2025-26: $24,500 for two remote semesters
- Collaborate within a community committed to solving complex global problems
- Engage with expert faculty and peers from around the world
- Access coaching and talent development resources
Program Details
This two-semester offering allows high school graduates, current university students or university graduates the opportunity to engage in an unparalleled learning experience. The Cornerstone courses and Integrated Learning course — 33 units in all — teach the breadth and depth of transferable interdisciplinary knowledge that will be your foundation whether your next step is continuing your academic endeavors, launching a business, or entering the workforce.
With no residential requirement, Visiting Scholars can learn from anywhere in the world alongside students who share the same goals of developing new ways of thinking and problem solving, but have very different backgrounds, values, and future ambitions. Scholars will engage with their classmates inside and outside of class through small dialogue-based seminars, virtual community programming, as well as group career coaching and talent development sessions.
Our Learning Platform
Each discussion-based seminar pushes you to continuously interact with your professors and classmates. Through this deep collaboration, you learn to question assumptions, analyze information, perform simulations, devise novel solutions, and fundamentally reshape the way you think about the world.
Admissions Process
The application has three parts. In the first step, we want to know who you are and you will be asked to share basic background information. In the second step, we are looking to understand how you think. You will be asked to complete a series of challenges that can be taken at any time on a computer with internet and a webcam. In the last step, you will be asked to share what you have achieved both inside and outside the classroom.
Applications for Fall 2025 are now open.
