The AEI Academic Programs team connects top college students across the country with the ideas, research, and network of AEI. Members of our growing student network share AEI’s commitment to fostering a healthy competition of ideas, defending human dignity, expanding human potential, and building a freer and safer world. Contact us at [email protected] to learn more or get involved.
Executive Council Program: The Executive Council program began in 2013 on 25 undergraduate campuses and has since grown to over 400 student leaders on more than 100 campuses across the country. These groups of up to six students per school form the core of AEI’s outreach to undergraduates. With the help of our staff, Executive Councils promote substantive conversations about public policy on campus by hosting events and activities throughout the year. Executive Council members also have the opportunity to attend exclusive gatherings for public policy discussion and leadership training at AEI’s headquarters in Washington, DC, and other locations around the country. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Summer Honors Program: AEI’s Summer Honors Program is an intensive, fully-funded educational and professional development opportunity in Washington, DC, for top undergraduate students. The program gathers students from diverse ideological backgrounds for substantive dialogue and debate about the most pressing issues facing the country and world. The core feature of the program is a series of discussion-based seminars that offer participants forums to delve deeply into policy areas of their choice. Outside of the seminars, students participate in policy briefings with distinguished guests, high-level networking opportunities, and site visits in Washington. Applications are currently being accepted for the Summer 2020 program.
Weekend Honors Programs: Modeled after our Summer Honors Program, we provide two-day intensive seminars during the academic year on pressing public policy topics. Past programs have focused on the stratification of American society, the health of our communities and civil society, and the return of Great Power politics on the international stage (with a particular focus on China, Iran, and Russia). We are not currently accepting applications for a weekend seminar.
Student Network: A community of thousands of undergraduates across the country, Student Network members receive a bi-weekly newsletter (The AEI Connector) that keeps students up-to-speed on the most relevant public policy debates, features a curated list of job and internship opportunities, and provides regular updates on AEI student programs. Sign up today to become a part of this community.
Initiative on Faith & Public Life: A unique outreach effort of AEI, and part of our Academic Programs department, the Initiative on Faith & Public Life provides Christian college students with formational educational and professional opportunities that propel them to lives of faith and leadership in the public square. The Initiative sponsors conferences, on-campus events, and other intensive programming that explore topics of politics, public policy, economics, business, and society from a perspective of faith. It also produces a variety of educational resources, including books, essays, videos, and documentaries. Segments of the Executive Council Program and Summer Honors Program are sponsored by this initiative.
