About

The Business Careers Awareness Program (BCAP) at the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management is a free summer program for rising high school juniors with interest in business and accounting. Founded in 2004 by Ron Butler, a first-generation college student who went on to become managing partner of EY's Phoenix office, BCAP was built explicitly to open doors for students from backgrounds underrepresented in business education. It is fully funded by the EY Foundation and costs nothing to attend.

BCAP runs two tracks. The flagship is a one-week residential experience on the UA campus in Tucson, offering college-level business instruction from Eller faculty, team-building exercises, networking with EY professionals, a field trip to EY's Phoenix office, and a case competition at the end of the week. A one-day BCAP experience is also available, offering exposure to accounting, marketing, and business communication for students who are not admitted to the week-long program or have scheduling constraints. Both tracks are open to rising juniors.

BCAP explicitly encourages first-generation college students and students with financial need to apply, alongside students from communities underrepresented in business classrooms. No prior business experience is required or expected. The program has a strong pipeline record: of the hundreds of students who have participated since 2004, a meaningful percentage have gone on to attend the University of Arizona, with roughly a third of those choosing Eller degrees. Seventy percent of the student assistants who help run BCAP each year are BCAP alumni themselves — an unusual continuity that speaks to the program's durability and community.

For a first-generation student or a student from an underrepresented background who is genuinely curious about business or accounting, BCAP is one of the more substantive free options available — pairing real faculty instruction and professional exposure with the kind of community that most pre-college business programs don't bother to build.