Miller Neighborhood Scholars High School Academy

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high school students in boat on Allegheny River

The Miller Neighborhood Scholars Summer Academy is a four-week, fully funded program for rising high school juniors and seniors that integrates classroom learning and hands-on community engagement to help students explore leadership, vocation, and social change through faith-informed action.

Miller Neighborhood Scholars High School Academy

June 22-July 19, 2026

The Miller Institute at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary invites applications for its four-week Neighborhood Scholars Summer Academy. The Academy gathers rising high school juniors and seniors from across the country for a transformative four-week summer academy. Scholars form an immersive and supportive community as they participate in discussion-based classroom learning and practice-based contextual learning. They work together to make connections between ideas and action. And they challenge one another to take risks to move beyond their comfort zones and grow as leaders who care about their community and want to change the world.

Are you ready to be a Neighborhood Scholar?

If you are entering your junior or senior year of high school, if you care about your community, and if you want to change the world, then you are ready to be a Neighborhood Scholar. Participating in the Summer Academy will empower you to grow personally, spiritually, and intellectually through civic engagement, leadership development, and vocational discernment. You will deepen your understanding of your life and work as a calling through which you can serve God and neighbor in whatever occupation or profession you pursue.

Program Details

There is no cost to attend the Neighborhood Scholars Summer Academy. Room and board, as well as supplies and expenses are covered. In fact, Fellows receive a $1,000 stipend upon completion the four-week program. The only cost to Scholars themselves is transportation to and from Pittsburgh.

Program Design

The Summer Academy integrates reflection and action: thinking and doing. It takes the ideas found in books, music, film, and other media and makes them come alive in real world situations. Neighborhood Scholars think and talk about challenging ideas in discussion-based Seminars. They put what they learn into action through practice-based Exploratorys at places like the Garfield Community Farm, OASIS Community Development, and the Neighborhood Resilience Project. In Seminars and Exploratorys, Scholars don’t just talk about making a difference or changing the world, they do something about it alongside leaders who are working for peace and justice every day.

Application

Application deadline: March 1, 2026. Selections will be made by April 17, 2026. The application will be open soon.