About SEI

Lehigh University’s 2025 Summer Engineering Institute (SEI) consists of 2 two-week summer programs of intensive classroom study and research for talented, rising high school juniors and seniors. The program has been redesigned to provide opportunities for diverse and/or first-generation students.  Hosted by Lehigh’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, SEI provides enrichment experiences in the fields of engineering and technology. A major goal of the program is to encourage young talent to pursue careers in these areas and other STEM disciplines, thereby fostering global competitiveness in engineering and technology and other STEM disciplines. The core of the program is a cooperative learning environment, in which participants are encouraged to work in teams, to solve complex problems using the sophisticated technology and facilities available at Lehigh University.

 

 

SEI maintains a partnership with the Lehigh University School Study Council (LUSCC), a consortium of regional school districts that partner with Lehigh's College of Education to participate in executive and professional development experiences and share best practices among key school leaders across the Lehigh Valley and beyond. Districts represented on the Council offer exclusive access to students in our region for whom the program would resonate deeply, and typically be out of reach.

SEI Student Profile:
The right students for SEI are rising juniors or seniors in high school who would have a reasonable expectation of success at a college like Lehigh, but they may live in challenging socioeconomic circumstances, perhaps among the first generation in their family to consider collegiate studies, or maybe they are from a group that has low representation in the STEM community. They are academically capable and personally responsible enough to handle a two-week residential program, but most of all they would enthusiastically engage in the program, learning alongside our dedicated staff of college-aged mentors and faculty members.

SEI Selection Process:
Students will each be nominated by their district (LUSSC schools are provided information on nominations). To assure as much equity in the process as possible, Lehigh is dividing up the total number of available slots for SEI among the districts represented on the Council, in proportion to the total enrollment at high schools within each district. Each superintendent work with in-school personnel to identify students for each slot granted to their district. The 2025 SEI handbook should be reviewed by nominators and nominated students and their families and can be found here:  2025 SEI Handbook