Applications for the 2026 Cole Summers Fellowship are officially open.
Once again, applications for the Cole Summers Fellowship are officially open.
Last year, when the 2025 applications opened, I wrote an article about how much unconventional education continued to grow since the pandemic. Just like last year, the momentum continues. And again, I find myself in awe of the growth and excitement surrounding non-traditional learning, and especially excited about how unconventionally-schooled youth are getting their voices added to the wider conversation. I am honored once again to be facilitating this incredibly important program at FEE through the Education Entrepreneurship Lab.
At a time in history when homeschoolers and other unconventionally-schooled students are finally getting the spotlight, recognition, and respect they have long deserved, and as more parents leave traditional schooling in favor of personalized approaches, this fellowship has never been more important. Often we hear from educators, parents, and policymakers, but not from those who have been and will be impacted by the programs and policies we create. The Cole Summers Fellowship works to highlight unconventionally-educated teen voices, feeding a pipeline of liberty-minded young leaders of the future.
Created in honor of the late Kevin Cooper, a teenaged unschooler, author, and entrepreneur whose pen name was Cole Summers, the fellowship aims to carry on his legacy and train the next generation of unconventionally-schooled leaders. Through free-market-inspired guest lectures, guided projects, and writing coaching, fellows gain real-world experience leveraging their own stories and unique perspectives to add their voices to the national discourse surrounding school choice, education freedom, and innovation.
Previous fellows, such as Savannah Forgy and Brooklyn Goodale, have made an astounding impact, contributing their voices and views to FEE and the wider liberty movement. Every fellow gets one-on-one coaching and support to help them achieve the goals they set at the beginning of the program, whether that be an educational program or a digital publication. They certainly embody the values and spirit of the program’s namesake.
This year’s fellowship application deadline is February 27th, and the program begins in mid-March. If you are an unconventionally-schooled teenager looking for an opportunity to add your voice to the national discourse or a parent or educator with teens who would like to apply, I would love to read your applications! I cannot wait to launch this year’s fellowship and see what amazing things our fellows create this year.
