Summer Institute: Earn College Credit

July 11-17, 2026

Course Options Residence Life Application Process FAQ Contact

Application is open!

ATTEND SUMMER INSTITUTE, EARN $1,000 SCHOLARSHIP PER YEAR
Students who attend Summer Institute before their senior year of high school will receive a $1,000 scholarship per year towards their tuition for attending Covenant College.

What is Summer Institute?

The Covenant College Summer Institute offers one-week residential programs for motivated high school students to earn college credit. These courses are hosted on Covenant College's campus and taught by Covenant College professors. Admission is competitive, and rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors are encouraged to apply.

In addition to earning college credit, participating in the Summer Institute gives you a taste of a Covenant College education. Mornings are filled with rigorous and engaging academic instruction by Covenant faculty. You might continue your class discussion over lunch each day in the Great Hall with your classmates and professor in a more informal setting.

Afternoons build on the morning's instruction with studying, group work, or research in the library with the support of current Covenant College students serving as teaching assistants.

After dinner in the Great Hall, you'll have opportunities to experience different aspects of residence life at Covenant through a variety of planned activities.

The entire Summer Institute experience - from the classroom to the residence hall - is grounded in Scriptural principles, reminding and challenging students to live out the reality of Christ's preeminence in all things.

Courses Offered

Students have the option of studying unique courses taught by Covenant professors. Each class is made up of no more than ten students.

"What? Me, a Teacher?": Designing, Teaching, and Assessing a Lesson
Dr. Amy Bagby

The course will explore the teaching cycle (planning, teaching, assessing). We will begin with a biblical foundation for teaching and then dissect the practical application of planning a lesson, teaching the lesson, and assessing student growth. Students will get hands-on experience in a classroom setting.

The Art of Literary Analysis
Dr. Robert Erle Barham

How might one approach a literary work thoughtfully and faithfully? This course will introduce the tools and techniques of literary analysis and interpretation. We will consider the distinct experience of literary art, recognizing both form and function. Addressing selections from fiction, poetry, and drama, as well as film and visual art, we will practice analyzing, discussing, and writing about literature.

Knowing Our Minds
Dr. Rod Wilson

Our conscious and unconscious beliefs about how our minds work drive many of our behaviors. For example, our ideas about memory influence how we study, interpret eyewitness testimony, and even how we argue. However, many of our beliefs are inaccurate and can cause us to make bad decisions or miscommunicate without even realizing it. This course will consider some of our basic beliefs about how our minds work and how we can use psychological science to improve our understanding of ourselves and the people around us.

How to Observe What You Can't See
Dr. Preston Hoobler

The science of chemistry deals in particles and interactions that the human eye is incapable of directly seeing. However, what we observe on a human scale can tell us a great deal about what is happening “under the surface” of Creation. Color and temperature changes are examples of observations which tell us that chemistry is happening. Some helpful observations have eluded the unaided human eye. In these cases, brilliant people have devised instruments that provide interpretable data for a capable scientist. This course will cover several different methods of laboratory observation and help connect those observations to chemical understanding.

Immanuel: The Story of God's Desire to Live with and in Humanity
Dr. Luke Irwin

This course will trace the arc of God’s desire to dwell with humanity. From Eden to the New Jerusalem, we will investigate what it means for God to “dwell” with his chosen people and how his desire to dwell with humanity reveals his love. Important questions will include: what might it mean for God to “dwell” in a human body and amongst human beings? What does it mean for God to appear? What does this mean for the incarnation? What does “divine dwelling” mean for the church today and for the value of human bodies? More broadly, can divine “dwelling” describe the fundamental nature of the biblical story?

Does Money Make the World Go ‘Round? A survey of money, inflation, and international finance
Dr. John Rush

This course will explore the nature of money, its role in the national and international economy, and what it is that we love when we love money. We will discuss the key characteristics of money and survey the historical transition from commodity to fiat money. The role of the Federal Reserve System and impact of the money supply on the domestic economy will be examined, including the relationship between the money supply and hyperinflation. The operation of the global exchange rate system will be examined, including an evaluation of the dominant role of the U.S. dollar, exploration of exchange rate crises, and a survey of the role and origin of the International Monetary Fund. The enhanced understanding of money developed over the course will be applied to our lives as disciples of Jesus who want to resist the temptation to love money.

The Art of Place
Professor Jeffrey Morton

The subject of place is not a neutral one. Whether we recognize it or not, we all come from somewhere and are presently in a place. In this experiential class we will explore the subject in an art studio context informed by social and critical theory, and theological and Christian thinking about place. While walking the campus of Covenant College, making maps and notational drawing, and through the act of photography and journaling, we will ask the simple question: where do we belong?

Writing about Nature: Where the Wild Things Are
Dr. Sarah Huffines

Nature writing has a long history, but it is often relegated to the margins of contemporary writing. What is nature writing’s particular American history? What role can it play in a believer’s writing and meditative life? This course will include classic readings from nature writing, mostly nonfiction, and will involve daily exercises in writing and revising students’ own work.

America at 250: Political Thought of the American Founding
Dr. Philip Bunn

Now 250 years removed from the Declaration of Independence, America is quite distant from its founders and Constitutional framers. In this course, we will examine the political thought of America’s founding statesmen and the political principles animating its founding documents. We will begin with the debates about Parliamentary rule that culminated in the Declaration of Independence in 1776. We will then turn to the debates over the Federal Constitution of 1787 and the defense of that constitution offered in The Federalist Papers, the most famous single example of American political thought. We will conclude with some debates over religion, education, and law that show the American founders applying their principles to questions of life and government in the new republic.

Tertulia and Salons: Engaging with Hispanic and Francophone Pop Culture
Dr. Brianne Stambaugh and Dr. Bryant White

What is culture? And who has culture? This course explores those questions and more through a study of current themes represented in pop culture within Hispanic and Francophone societies, as conveyed via film and music.

Molecules and Life
Dr. Tim Morris

As embodied image-bearers, our lives in the world owe much to molecules fashioned by our creator in the beginning from “the dust of the ground”. The origination, functional lives and eventual loss of these molecules from our bodies provide fascinating stories in themselves. Yet, especially surprising for those prone to material reductionism, it is clear that our lives require much more than the combination of molecules of which our bodies are fashioned. These molecules point beyond themselves to higher levels of biological organization and purpose as they contribute to surprising life characteristics that wouldn’t be anticipated from the molecules themselves. Through lectures, discussions, readings, model building and laboratory investigations, this course will tell the stories of selected molecules and the higher-level life functions and purposes that they enable.

RESIDENCE LIFE

In addition to learning from Covenant professors, students will live in a Covenant College residence hall, dine in Covenant's Great Hall, and experience a taste of Covenant's campus life.

Current Covenant students will serve as resident assistants in the residence hall, and will host fun activities each evening. Summer Institute participants will also have group devotions together several times throughout the week.

While the summer experience isn't exactly the same as a student's experience during the regular academic year, over the course of your week in residence on campus you will become more familiar with what life is like for Covenant students and better understand the value of a Covenant education.

Application Process

Admission to the Summer Institute is competitive, and rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors in high school with a weighted GPA of 3.0 or higher are eligible.

There are four steps to apply for admission:

Submit a completed application.
Submit a 200-250 word essay to explain why you are interested in participating in Covenant College's Summer Institute. Please describe how your interest in the subject matter of your preferred course has been shaped by your family, church, and/or broader community.
Submit a current high school transcript.

Applicants may submit application materials by email to summerinstitute@covenant.edu, by fax to 706.820.0893, or by mail to Covenant College Summer Institute, 14049 Scenic Highway, Lookout Mountain, Georgia 30750.

Frequently Asked Questions

Students should plan to arrive and check-in between 1-5 pm on Satday, July 11.

Bedding (pillow, sheets and blanket or sleeping bag) for an extra-long twin bed, towel, clothes, shoes for outdoor activities, rain jacket, swimsuit (optional), toiletries, laptop (recommended), Bible, pen and paper, and perhaps a little spending money for snacks or merchandise from the College bookstore. Any medication that you take as well.

No, we will provide all of the reading material you will need for your class once you are on campus.

No, simply come curious and ready to engage!

Parents are welcome to drop off students during the check-in time and pick up students during the check-out time. The remainder of the program is limited to students, in order to facilitate focused attention on coursework and as close to a Covenant College student experience as possible. We will offer a campus tour, as well as meetings with admissions counselors, on Friday afternoon for any family members who would like to sign up.

You may drive here but may not use your car while the Summer Institute is in session. You will be able to park your car in a campus parking lot.

Students will live in a Covenant College residence hall just like current Covenant students do. While the buildings are co-ed, each hall is limited to either men or women. A current Covenant College student will serve as a resident assistant on each hall throughout the Summer Institute, interacting with and assisting students. When you check in, you will be given an access card that will allow you to enter your residence hall during the week, as access is limited to residents and staff.

Yes, WiFi will be available for all Summer Institute participants.

Current Covenant students will serve as your teaching assistants in the afternoons and as your resident assistants in the residence halls and during evening activities. You will have opportunities to talk with them about their experiences as students at Covenant.

The program concludes on Friday, July 17 and students should check out of the residence hall between 3-5 pm on Friday. A late-check-out penalty will apply for anyone who checks out after 5 pm.

Yes, admissions counselors will be available for students; however, we encourage interested parents to attend the scheduled parent time on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 to talk to admissions representatives who will be available to answer questions.

Yes, students and their families can take a campus tour. Please contact Campus Visits to schedule a family tour.

Yes, you are welcome to apply for admission in consecutive summers. The Summer Institute is intended for rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors in high school. While we can't provide a guarantee, as admission is competitive, it is possible to attend for three summers and earn three college credits. We expect to offer new courses in future summers.