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Annenberg Youth Academy for Media and Civic Engagement

The Annenberg Youth Academy for Media and Civic Engagement is a four-week summer intensive academy for 26 talented high school students from the communities surrounding the USC University Park and Health Science Campuses. Students are exposed to the equivalent of first-year college-level courses and develop a rich conceptual understanding and practice of the necessary role that media communications and journalism play in fashioning civic-minded thought leaders and innovators.

AYA strengthens students’ skills in writing, critical thought, public speech and debate, multimedia production, interviewing and ethnography — all essential competencies required for excellence in and out of the classroom in the 21st century. The students are introduced to USC Annenberg’s undergraduate programs and services, as well as possible careers in media and journalism. They have opportunities to meet the school's innovative scholars who are advancing issues of race, gender, and ethnicity in communication and journalism communities of practice.

Students must reside and attend high school in Los Angeles County to be eligible to apply. Applications for the 2023 Annenberg Youth Academy program are now closed. For summer 2024, please check back in January of 2024.

Program Dates: Monday, June 19, 2023–Friday, July 14, 2023 (no class on Monday, July 3 and Tuesday, July 4 due to Independence Day Holiday).

AYA 2023 includes:

  • Free breakfast and lunch daily
  • AYA swag
  • One TAP card with a $50 value (if needed)
  • Educational field trips
  • Three periods per day
  • College advising and college essay preparation from the USC Annenberg Admissions Team.
  • Ability to meet new peers and engage with our faculty, students and staff

Read about two former AYA students’ experiences in the program — and their stories as current USC Annenberg students: Abraham Flores and Kymia Freeman.

View the 2023 AYA Student Journalism Projects.

View the 2023 AYA Student Communication Projects.

For more information about Annenberg Youth Academy, please contact:

Annenberg Youth Academy
ascjaya@usc.edu

JaBari Brown
Senior Associate Director
Advisement and Academic Services & Civic Engagement
jabari.brown@usc.edu
(213) 740-0900

Brittany Hart Scholten
Director and Civic Engagement Coordinator
Annenberg Youth Academy
brittadh@usc.edu

Taj Frazier
Associate Professor of Communication
Director, Institute for Diversity and Empowerment at Annenberg (IDEA)
rfrazier@usc.edu
(213) 740-6595