The Bet on Entrepreneurship Program provides students who identify as First-Generation and/or Limited Income (FLGI) with education around the entrepreneurial ecosystem and facilitated access to professional entrepreneurial spaces.

Applications are open to current First-Year (rising sophomores) and Second-Year (rising juniors) students who identify as first-generation, and/or limited-income (FGLI). Bet on Entrepreneurship uses Penn First Plus and the University’s FGLI guidelines (https://pennfirstplus.upenn.edu/about-penn-first-plus/).
Students should ensure they in are possession of a U.S. visa status that authorizes you to work lawfully in the United States (i.e., not just as part of a work-study program).

Applicants will be notified of their admission to the BoE program in late December 2025. Admitted students must accept their spots in the application software (Survey Monkey Apply) before December 16th, 2025.

Students who are admitted to the program will receive a financial award of at least $2,500 upon successful completion of specific program milestones. That financial award can be used to offset costs for participating in the summer immersion not covered by the program. On-campus housing for the duration of the summer immersion program is also paid for by the Program.

Please note the financial award is considered taxable income by the IRS.

In addition to the financial award associated with admission to the program, the BoE program will cover housing in Philadelphia only for the duration of the Summer Immersion program. The BoE program will not pay for incidentals including laundry service, damage to the room, damage to the housing facilities and kitchen, missing supplies, and other non-accommodation expenses. Students will be responsible for transportation expenses. BoE participants are responsible for their daily meal and transportation expenses (e.g., to and from summer immersive placement, program-related meetings) during the Summer Immersion Program. Admitted students may use Penn funding resources for travel expenses.

Students are not permitted to take summer classes during Summer Session I and participate in the program due to the nature of the commitment involved, as well as potential financial aid implications.

All admitted BoE students are required to attend a six week Spring pre-program Bootcamp, in addition to any added sessions or events mandated by Program staff. This co-curricular program will provide the BoE cohort with hands-on and actionable training to prepare them for their summer immersion experience. The weekly sessions will take place on campus, at Tangen Hall, on select afternoons in the Spring 2026 semester from 3:30 - 6:30 pm Eastern Time (*unless noted otherwise).

Attendance is required at all Bootcamp sessions. Excused absences from BoE Bootcamp sessions will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Since all of the dates have been provided in advance, please include information in your application if you know you will not be able to attend any of the sessions. If a conflict comes up later in the program, please contact the program administrators as soon as possible to determine next steps.

The formal dates for the Summer Immersion program are June 8th, 2026 to July 31, 2026. Students must arrive in Philadelphia by June 7th, 2026 and schedule a departure no earlier than July 31st, 2026.

Participating startup companies will be announced to the Program cohort at the start of the Spring-Term bootcamp.

During the Spring Bootcamp, BoE participants will have an opportunity to learn more about the specific opportunities at the participating startups, and will be able to rank their interest in the available programs. While everyone will get a pairing, we cannot guarantee that all students will receive their preferred placements.

Applications must be fully completed and submitted before the deadline of Sunday, November 2nd, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. If an applicant misses a deadline due to technical or other issues, unforeseen or otherwise, their application will not be considered. Please factor in enough time to ensure there are no obstacles, technical or otherwise, before the deadline. Deadline extensions or opportunities to correct or improve an application will not be permitted.

Applicants are encouraged to submit their application at least one (1) business day before the deadline, during normal University of Pennsylvania business hours (9AM - 5PM Eastern) to account for any troubleshooting that might be needed. There is no one 'on call' to assist with troubleshooting application submission issues, technical or otherwise.