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About

Welcome to the Summer Youth and Precollege Programs in the Arts.

We hope that you choose Purchase College for your child’s summer experience. It is sure to create many treasured memories for your entire family.

For more than 40 years, these programs have been much more than camps.

Summer students in grades 7-12 engage in a rich environment  of new skills, new friends, achievements, growth and independence.

Students can choose from  a variety of exciting and enriching learning opportunities, such as acting, songwriting and music production, visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking,  voice, journalism and digital photography programs.

Quality Programming

Study with accomplished artists and experienced educators in programs where the student-to-staff ratio is no more than 10:1.  The teaching staff is  assisted by teacher assistants (TAs), who are most often undergraduates majoring in the program’s discipline.

Be inspired by our scenic 500-acre campus and experience an outstanding summer of  exploring and interest or pursuing a passion at Purchase College. Enjoy a summer of outstanding education and create lasting memories working with other students who share your passion for the arts.

Each program concludes with a performance, exhibit, reading, film screening, or other culminating event for families and friends to showcase the skills that they have learned.

College Resources

Summer students are introduced to the impressive resources available to Purchase College undergraduates.

Musicians practice in the Conservatory of Music’s practice rooms, record in the recording studios, and perform in the Choral and Recital Halls.

Actors obtain specialized instruction through master classes, rehearse in actors’ studios, and perform in the College’s performance spaces.

Filmmakers use the campus as their set and learn to edit using professional editing software.

When available, artists make art in the Visual Arts Building—160,000 square feet of art-making opportunity. It is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the Northeast, providing students with superb studio environments, plus state-of-the-art software and hardware specifically geared to the demands of professional design and art making.

General Information

  • The staff are primarily trained and practicing professionals. Some are professors and lecturers at Purchase College.
  • Low staff to student ratios—typically no more than 10:1.
  • Students who have completed eighth grade may choose between youth and the precollege programs—except for the Visual Arts Institute, for which students must have completed ninth grade.
  • Programs meets 9:30 am – 3:30 pm, Monday – Friday.
  • Extended-day options are available by the week.
  • PepsiCo employees enjoy the 10% discount with proper identification.
  • Family of Broadview members enjoy a 10% discount with proper identification.
  • Each program concludes with a student performance, screening, exhibition, or other culminating event for friends and family.