A select group of high school students will get their first taste of a university experience early, thanks to a new summer program at the University of Guelph.  

U of G is partnering with Shad Canada, a non-profit focused on youth education, to organize an annual STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) summer program, which also covers business and entrepreneurship topics, that begins next summer.  

More than 60 high school students are expected to come to U of G in July 2025 for the first iteration of the four-week experiential learning program. The students will live in residence and eat in U of G’s award-winning dining halls as they take part in learning on campus.   

The competitive Shad program selects 1,500 students out of thousands of applicants across the country. These Grade 10 and 11 students select from campuses across the country, attend lectures, join community field trips, participate in workshops and collaborate in team-based projects. All of it culminates in a capstone design project that lets students showcase the skills they learned over the month.