EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNT: Receive $1,000 off the Lassonde Startup Academy for registering by Dec. 31, 2025. See details below.

COMING SUMMER 2026

All High School Students Welcome to Live, Create & Launch | June 15-26, 2026

Welcome to the Lassonde Startup Academy, a pre-college program for entrepreneurs, makers, builders, and doers provided by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, a top-10 ranked program at the University of Utah. All high school students (ages 14-18) are welcome to enroll in this hands-on program to live, create, launch together. Live upstairs at Lassonde Studios, a one-of-a-kind living-learning facility, and attend workshops, maker activities, mentor sessions, pitch events, and more on the first floor. Discover the entrepreneurial mindset, how to turn your ideas into action, and what it takes to launch a business, all while earning college credit, making lifelong friends, having a blast, and getting a jump-start on your college education.

Program & Scholarship Application

Welcome to the Academy

Read Announcement

Why the Lassonde Startup Academy?

 

Experience the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, a top-10 ranked program for entrepreneurship at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business.
You will learn from experts and experienced entrepreneurs and makers. Then you will do it yourself through hands-on activities like building a product, taking steps to launch a real company, and pitching your ideas.
Explore how to build real companies in areas you love including games, outdoor recreation, creative design, or social impact.
Lassonde Studios features a worldclass makerspace where students get to use a wide variety of tools and resources to create prototypes and products. What will you build?
The best way to get ahead on your college education is to start early. The Lassonde Startup Academy allows students to begin their experience at the University of Utah and everything it offers.
Students participating in the Lassonde Startup Academy can earn college credit for the experience. Restrictions apply, and not everyone is eligible.
Students will participate in excursions so they can get to know one of the best locations in the country for business, entrepreneurship, and outdoor adventures.
Learn about business, strategy, finance, prototyping, marketing, operations, and more. Then use these transferable skills for any career or field of study.
Don’t just wait for the future to happen, create it. Students in the Lassonde Startup Academy are challenged to dream big, change the world, and change themselves in the process.

Live at Lassonde Studios

Lassonde Startup Academy students live at Lassonde Studios, a nationally recognized student residence and innovation hub. The building provides a variety of unique living and lounge spaces above a coworking and makerspace on the first floor.

About Lassonde Studios

Create Something Real

Students get access to tools and resources to create prototypes and build skills in our makerspace. Resources include hand tools, sewing machines, 3D printers, laser cutters, large-format printer, vinyl cutter, power tools, and more.

Our Maker Space

Launch Your Future

Lassonde students learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur, creator, maker, and doer. Then they get their hands dirty and create a product and launch products and businesses.

Read Launch Stories

Costs (Summer 2026)

Program Cost

REGULAR COST $4,860

EARLY REGISTRATION $4,860 $3,860

(Discount for registering by Dec. 31, 2025)

Includes deposit. Full payment due April 1, 2026.

Registration Deposit

NONREFUNDABLE $200


Program & Scholarship Application

Included in Cost

  • Room & meals
  • Makerspace & supplies
  • Mentoring & 24-hour supervision
  • Excursions & entertainment
  • Hospitality services
  • Laundry machines
  • & More

Scholarships Available

Due to generous financial support, scholarships are available, and all are welcome to apply. We want the Lassonde Startup Academy to be accessible for high-achieving students of all backgrounds. If you require financial support, please complete a scholarship application before you register and pay any fees.

Scholarship Application Deadlines (Summer 2026)

Early Consideration Deadline: Dec. 1, 2025
Regular Deadline: Feb. 1, 2026


Program & Scholarship Application

Academy Agenda (June 15-26, 2026)

(Subject to Change)

Week 1

Welcome & Orientation
Move into Lassonde Studios, meet your cohort, icebreakers

What is Entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship intro, value creation, meet the mentors, games

Industry Deep Dive (Match Your Passion with a Purpose)
Themed guest speakers, field research workshop

Design Thinking
Problem framing, empathy interviews, rapid ideation sprint, intro to prototyping

Business Models & Product Design
Intro to business models, product-design workshop, customer discovery tools

Field Trips & Founders Stories
Visit local startups, conversations with local founders

Outdoor Creativity
Park City fieldtrip and pitch activity, team branding workshop

Week 2

Reflect & Reset Mindset
Hike and journaling, passion and purpose storyboard creation

Venture Development
Product build and prototype day in Make Space, mentor feedback, college admissions presentation

Market & Finance
Market research, pricing, financial modeling, pitching

Brand & Storytelling
Visual identity, digital storytelling, social pitch practice, challenges

Pitch Studio
Intro to business models, product-design workshop, customer discovery tools

Launch Day
Finalize venture pitches, practice showcase, mentor and peer feedback

Demo Day, Awards & Goodbye
Awards, prizes, venture showcase, celebration (open to family & community)

Contact Us

Anne Bastien, Program Director
Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, University of Utah
anne.bastien@utah.edu, 801-585-3198