About

The Summer Linguistic Institute for Youth Scholars (SLIYS, pronounced "slice") is a one- or two-week virtual summer program for high school students in grades 9–12, offered by the Department of Linguistics at The Ohio State University — one of the country's top-ranked linguistics departments. It is, to BSP's knowledge, the only program of its kind in the United States dedicated to introducing high school students to linguistics as a formal scientific discipline.

SLIYS runs in two sequential levels. SLIYS 1 introduces students to foundational concepts: phonology (the sound systems of languages), morphology (word structure), syntax (sentence structure), semantics, writing systems, historical linguistics, and psycholinguistics. Students participate in live language elicitation sessions with native speakers of languages ranging from Spanish and Korean to Turkish and Chinese, learning how linguists gather data in the field. SLIYS 2 — open only to students who have completed SLIYS 1 in a prior year — covers more advanced topics within the discipline. Both levels run synchronously Monday through Friday, noon to 5:00 p.m. EDT, with no recorded sessions; attendance is required daily. The 2026 sessions run June 22–26 and July 20–24.

Tuition is $550 per week ($1,100 for both levels combined), with need-based financial aid available. Admission is competitive on a rolling basis beginning in early March; applications require a teacher recommendation. Cohort sizes are kept deliberately small to allow personal attention and meaningful peer interaction. The program is fully online, making it accessible to students nationwide regardless of geography.

For a student drawn to language, linguistics, cognitive science, or the intersection of culture and communication — but who has never had access to formal linguistics instruction — SLIYS offers a depth and rigor that doesn't exist elsewhere at the high school level.