This transformational three-week program blends the classroom experience, consulting opportunities, and professional coaching to enhance your career potential. Submit your application today and take the first step toward expanding your possibilities.
Accelerator® Summer Business Immersion is a certificate program designed to equip college students and recent graduates with practical business knowledge, hands-on experience, and real-world career preparation. Through an immersive learning environment that includes real client projects, participants explore key business disciplines, build professional skills, and gain insight into potential career paths.
This program is ideal for high-achieving students who are intellectually curious, motivated to learn, and eager to contribute in a collaborative setting. Undergraduate students and recent graduates from any college or major are encouraged to apply. Freshman and sophomores are especially strong candidates, as the program provides a valuable opportunity to enhance the college experience, explore career options early, and build a strong foundation in business.
The Summer 2026 Accelerator application is now closed. We look forward to welcoming new applicants when the Summer 2027 application opens in mid-August. In the meantime, if you want to connect, we encourage you to reach out to us.
Applicants must have completed at least one year of college studies and be a currently enrolled undergraduate student at a U.S.-based institution. Additionally, recent college graduates within 2 years of graduation will be considered for admission. Applicants must be in good academic standing with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0.
Ideal candidates will be collaborative in their work style and have a strong desire to improve their communication, professional presence, and consultation and marketing skills.
Attn: Vanderbilt University Students
As a current Vanderbilt student, you’re eligible to take advantage of Accelerator® Summer Business Immersion to help meet a part of your Immersion Vanderbilt Experience requirement.
A complete Accelerator application includes the following:
If you have any questions about the admissions process, please contact us.
With Accelerator, you will walk away with practical learning, real-world experience, and a new network of recruiters, business faculty, MBA students, and business executives. This is an investment worth making.
Program cost: $8,500
Housing cost (optional): Approx. $1,300
Early Bird Discount:
An early bird discount of $500 will be applied to admitted students in the early deadline. Please note this discount is applied to the final balance and not the deposit.
Deposit:
A non-refundable $1,000 deposit is required to secure and confirm your enrollment into the program. It is due on the respective deposit deadline for the round that you applied.
Final Payment:
Final payment and balance is due in full by May 1 for all applicants before Round 4. Round 4 applicants must pay the full tuition amount by May 15.
Lodging is a separate and additional cost for Accelerator students. Should students choose to live on campus, lodging in a residence hall is managed and priced by the Office of Conferences & Events. Our Accelerator team will share the housing registration information with you, but please note our team does NOT manage the housing process. All payments, receipts, and move-in/out dates are managed by the Office of Conferences & Events.
Students will also have the option of living off-campus and finding their own housing arrangements at their own expense in Nashville. Apartment Insiders is a free service that may be helpful in this process.
*Tuition and housing costs are subject to change. Additional expenses may include your travel to/from Nashville for the program and dry cleaning/laundry service.
Vanderbilt University provides a resource, FASTChoice, to help students and families find loans for non-degree programs such as Accelerator. FASTChoice is a tool for comparing private loan lenders through which our students have borrowed during the past three award years.
The lenders are listed in random order, and the information provided is accurate to the best of our knowledge. Before viewing the private lender list, you will be prompted to complete the Borrowing Essentials section, an interactive overview of basic borrowing information to help you make the best decision. If you return to the private lender list at a later time, then you can choose to opt out of viewing the Borrowing Essentials section again.
Extremely limited scholarship funding is available, and offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Applicants who demonstrate both financial need and exceptional potential in their application will be considered.
Connect one-on-one with a member of our team to get your questions answered.
Are you curious about what it’s like to be an Accelerator student at Vanderbilt? Want to know more about our client projects, team experiences, living in Nashville, or the culture? We encourage you to reach out to our Accelerator Ambassadors and learn how Accelerator is life changing.
Discover how 3 weeks can change the trajectory of your career.