About

The Immersive Summer Program for Education, Enrichment, and Distinction in Biomedical Engineering (ISPEED in BME) is a fully funded, four-week residential program at Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus in Baltimore, run by the Johns Hopkins Department of Biomedical Engineering — consistently ranked the top BME program in the United States. The 2026 program runs June 29–July 24. All program costs are covered: tuition, housing, meals, and transportation to and from Baltimore for students who live more than 50 miles from campus. A need-based participation stipend is also available. In keeping with its tuition-free status there is no application fee.

ISPEED is project-based rather than lecture-based. Students engage in hands-on engineering design work, lab activities, and research in biomedical engineering — working on projects that connect engineering to human health challenges, with faculty and graduate student mentorship throughout. The curriculum is designed to be accessible to motivated students from varied academic backgrounds; no specific STEM prerequisites are required. Students also attend faculty lectures, participate in professional development sessions on the college admissions process and STEM careers, and present their work at a final showcase at the end of the four weeks.

Eligibility is open to U.S. students whose birthdays fall between July 25, 2008 and June 28, 2011 — roughly current high school freshmen through juniors for the 2026 cycle. The application requires a transcript, a teacher recommendation, and a 250-word essay explaining interest in BME. No standardized test scores are requested. The program does not publish an acceptance rate; given that it is entirely free and affiliated with the top-ranked BME department in the country, competition is likely meaningful.

For a student with serious interest in biomedical engineering or engineering-adjacent medicine, ISPEED is one of the most compelling fully funded pre-college opportunities in the country — four weeks of hands-on BME work at Hopkins, at no cost.