Finacial Assistance

Mathcamp is deeply committed to enabling every qualified student to attend, regardless of financial circumstances. We offer over $100,000 a year in scholarships. There is no big, complicated application for financial assistance: just be sure to provide the relevant information on the regular application form. Scholarship amounts range from $200 to the entire camp fee. Occasionally, we also assist students with the cost of travel to and from camp.

All applications to Mathcamp received by the deadline receive full consideration for both admission and financial aid. (The application deadline for Mathcamp 2010 is April 27.)

The Scholarship Application Process

Our application process for financial aid is very simple. We start with asking you to fill out the short easy form and most of our financial aid awards are based on just this form. In your online or paper application, we will ask you to provide the following:

  • Annual family income from 2009 (all sources)
  • Estimated family income for 2010 (If significantly different from 2009, please explain.)
  • A list of all members of your household and their relationship to the applicant. For siblings, please provide ages.
  • The cost of schooling, if any, for all family members (private school, college, etc.), including the applicant.
  • The estimated cost of round-trip travel to Mathcamp for the applicant
  • What portion of the cost of Mathcamp (including travel) can your family afford to pay?
  • Please describe any special circumstances that you would like us to consider.

Occasionally, there are cases where we feel the short form doesn't give us enough information about the candidate's financial situation. In that case, we will contact the candidate and ask their parents/guardians to fill out a longer form (which we will post here shortly).

We also encourage students to pursue external sources of funding! In recent years, we have had students supported by scholarships from the national high school mathematical society, Mu Alpha Theta (www.mualphatheta.org), the Davidson Institute (www.davidsongifted.org) and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation (www.jkcf.org).

Frequently Asked Questions about Financial Aid

  • How likely is it that I will be eligible for a scholarship?
    Mathcamp expects to give out over $100,000 in scholarships this year. Scholarships are based primarily on need, though we also take merit into account on occasion. We are deeply committed to making Mathcamp affordable to all qualified students; since 2005, no admitted applicant has been unable to attend the camp for financial reasons. We give several full scholarships each year, and occasionally even help students with travel expenses. Please do not let financial considerations prevent you from applying!
  • How much of the camp fee will a scholarship cover?
    Scholarships range from $200 to the entire camp fee; the amount of each scholarship is decided on an individual basis.
  • How do I apply for a scholarship?
    You may complete the scholarship application at the same time as the application for admission. (There's a box to check in the online application which gives you a Financial Aid form; for paper applications, there is an optional one-page form.) The Financial Aid application should be filled out by a parent or guardian.
  • Are international students eligible for financial aid?
    Yes, of course. And the process of applying for financial aid is the same for all students.
  • Do you have merit-based scholarships?
    Only one: we offer a small merit scholarship to the top scorers on the USAMTS competition who earn admission to Mathcamp. Otherwise, our financial aid is entirely need-based.
  • Will applying for financial aid affect my chances of being admitted?
    No! Our admissions process is entirely need-blind; we will consider your application (Qualifying Quiz, recommendations, statement of interest, and experience) without looking at your financial situation. After we have admitted students for this summer, we will determine what we can offer to our admitted students in terms of scholarships (and let you know right away).