HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER PROGRAM

A Real-World Innovation Program
at Columbia University

High school students tackle real company challenges and build lasting confidence

NEW YORK CITY • JULY 13-24, 2026

Get the Parent Program Guide

Why Parents Choose This Program

Hosted on
Columbia University campus

Challenge sponsored by Columbia Business School

Ranked #9
in U.S. by U.S. News
Top 2 globally by
Financial Times

Structured and supervised
college experience

Designed for
motivated students

(not your traditional camp)

Why Families Choose This Program

Families often explore Hudson Lab Ventures when their child is doing well academically but has had limited opportunities to real-world work.

❋ Intentional Structure
We follow a Teach, Learn, Do methodology that feels focused, fluid and fun. Students are challenged without feeling overwhelmed.

❋ Collaborative Energy
Teamwork is a core part of the process. You’ll learn just as much from collaborating and communicating with your team as from the content itself.

❋ Safety & Supervision
Student safety and wellbeing are central to our program design. With clearly established expectations, students follow a daily rhythm that balances focused work time, collaboration, and readily accessible experienced staff.

❋ A Space for Growth
Students gain confidence from working on real and meaningful challenges that require judgment, collaboration and critical thinking.

What the
HLV Experience
Feels Like

Students are introduced to a real challenge, a real context, and real expectations. There is no single correct answer and no step-by-step script.

Some students find this energizing. Others feel uncertain. With structure and guidance, that uncertainty turns into confidence and this is where meaningful growth begins.

Daily Rhythm

The program’s rhythm evolves over two weeks. Early days focus on understanding the challenge and identifying strong problems. By Day 4, students pitch individual ideas. Day 5 centers on team formation. The final days are spent building solutions and preparing presentations.

The second half of the program is spent doing the work. Students collaborate closely with one another and with facilitators, research and test ideas, explain their thinking to peers, and refine their work through feedback as they prepare final presentations.

This rhythm helps students learn how to manage their time, communicate progress clearly, and stay engaged in complex work from start to finish.

How We Teach

Students are not left to figure everything out on their own nor are they rescued from difficulty.

Facilitators at Hudson Lab Ventures are entrepreneurs, educators and real-world problem solvers. They guide the process and help navigate team dynamics. They challenge assumptions, push for stronger reasoning, and hold students to high standards. Students quickly learn that their ideas matter, but only if they can explain and support them.

Professionals and guest experts engage seriously with students providing feedback that is specific and honest.

This balance is what allows students to develop real confidence rather than performative confidence.

  • A university lecture hall with students listening to a male professor standing at the front, presenting a weather map on a screen, with students taking notes on laptops in a tiered classroom.

    Day 1

    Meet your client. Understand their challenge.

  • Group of young people discussing around a whiteboard covered with colorful sticky notes, with a view of city buildings and blue sky outside.

    Days 2 + 3

    Uncover root causes by diving into stakeholders’ needs and motivations. Challenge assumptions. Redefine the problem.

  • Young person wearing headphones standing near a whiteboard and sticky notes, writing on a large wall with various colored notes, in a bright room with large windows and a plant.

    Day 4

    Everybody designs a solution.
    Everybody pitches.

  • A group of diverse young people posing and smiling in a public square with historical monument and yellow building in the background, under a clear blue sky.

    Day 5

    Winning ideas are chosen.
    Teams form.
    Fun ensues.

  • Group of young people sitting on colorful blocks and bean bags, using laptops and smartphones, in a modern outdoor space with glass walls and greenery outside.

    Days 6-9

    Teams dig deep into their solutions. They test assumptions, refine their thinking and turn concepts into plans. Long days. Focused work. Real momentum.

  • A group of students and professionals at a presentation in a modern conference room, with a large screen displaying the logo 'B.O.O.S.T' and the tagline 'Bridging Opportunities, Opening Student Trajectories.' The audience is seated facing the speakers, some taking photos or videos.

    Day 10

    Final Pitches. Show time!

Am I a good fit for
Hudson Lab Ventures?

Great work is rarely done alone. At Hudson Lab Ventures, we’re all about teamwork with a diverse set of strengths. Designers and business-minded students. Big-picture thinkers and detail lovers. Confident speakers and quiet listeners. Some students arrive with experience and clear opinions. Others arrive with coffee. Most students arrive unsure and rapidly grow into the experience.

No startup idea or polished résumé required. Students seeking a recreational summer are probably not the right fit. Students uncomfortable with ambiguity (often high-achievers) may struggle at first, but this program is exactly what you need. If you are curios, have follow-through and a willingness to work with others, please apply now.

Program at a glance

Duration: Two weeks
(new, 1-week intro course)

Age: High school students (rising or graduated)

Structure: Team-based, challenge-driven

Outcomes: Portfolio project, presentation, confidence

Locations: Global cities with local partners

Pricing:
$3500 commuter program
$6500 residential program

What Distinguishes Hudson Lab Ventures
According to Our Parents

Hudson Lab Ventures is an investment in students’ ability to thrive in a complex, competitive, and fast-changing world. Students join an innovation ecosystem, take on meaningful work and gain confidence from sharing their ideas well with decision makers operating at a global level.

Parents frequently report changes that extend beyond the program.

  • Speaking more clearly and confidently

  • Taking more initiative in unfamiliar situations

  • Reflecting more thoughtfully on decisions

  • Approaching challenges with more curiosity

“I can’t believe I presented to the Board of Directors at Sonae!”

  • A circular diagram illustrating the Innovation Ecosystem with Students at the center, surrounded by segments representing Educators, Universities, Non-Profits, and Accelerators, including Government and Business sectors. The image includes logos of Columbia Business School, Hudson Lab Ventures, and other organizations on a blue background.

    Access to an Innovation Ecosystem

    Students are not working in isolation. They operate within a real innovation ecosystem, collaborating with companies, universities, accelerators, and entrepreneurs who are actively building, testing, and scaling ideas. This exposure helps students understand how ideas move through the world and where opportunity is created.

  • A diverse group of people sitting around a table in an office, listening to a woman who is standing and speaking. The woman is wearing glasses and gesturing with her hands. Some attendees have backpacks and notebooks, and one person in a wheelchair is present.

    Work that is grounded in reality

    Executives and directors at companies and universities present innovation challenges they are actively trying to solve. These might include questions of strategy, customer experience, sustainability, community engagement or well-being. Students learn how ideas move from curiosity to action.

  • Students presenting in a classroom during an educational event or seminar, with banners and a large screen behind them, and an attentive audience seated in colorful chairs.

    Confidence that comes from competence

    Students take on work with real expectations, think critically, contribute ideas, and explain their reasoning in unfamiliar contexts. Through constructive feedback, debate, and practice, they refine their thinking and learn to communicate with confidence and clarity in academic settings, interviews, and high-stakes presentations.

  • A group of young people sitting around a woman in an indoor space with large windows. The background features posters and charts on the windows.

    Judgment and independence

    Students learn how to collaboratively identify problems and make decisions with incomplete information. Over time, they become more comfortable navigating uncertainty, weighing tradeoffs, and testing their ideas. These habits support students in school, college, and professional settings where independence, sound judgment, and follow-through matter.

  • Five diverse teenagers sitting on a marble staircase in a modern building, posing for a group photo.

    A Global Perspective

    Students collaborate with peers from around the world, learning about one another’s cultures while tackling complex challenges. Whether working in New York City, Lisbon or Seoul, students must understand how context, culture, and real constraints shape what works. This pushes students to adapt, ask better questions, and think beyond their own assumptions.

Parent Feedback

“Hudson Lab Ventures shifted his perspective in a powerful way!”

“What we didn't expect was to see her evolve in two weeks!”

“As a Head of Innovation, this is the kind of work I do every day with my team. Watching my kid present was a proud moment.

I kept thinking how much I wish I’d had an experience like this when I was growing up.

What to Do Next

Most families take time to read, talk, and ask questions before deciding. That is exactly how this program is meant to be approached.

The best next step is to review the parent program guide, which includes full details about the experience, logistics, and how to decide if this program feels right for your child.

Get the Parent Program Guide

Hudson Lab Ventures is designed by educators and entrepreneurs who care deeply about how students grow, not just what they produce.