Summer Programs 2024

Four Icelandic students are participating in summer programs at U.S. universities this summer.

With over 60 applications for two spots, our EducationUSA Academy program turned out to be the most competitive competition at the Commission this year! This shows how eager Icelandic upper secondary students are for first-hand experience regarding higher education in the United States. High-achieving upper secondary students are hungry for opportunities to challenge themselves and the Commission’s EducationUSA Advising Center is thrilled to be able to offer that opportunity. Vaka Sif Tjörvadóttir from the Upper Secondary School in Austur-Skaftafellssýsla started a program on Aerospace Exploration at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Eron Thor Jónsson from the Commercial College of Iceland is travelling to the U.S. for a summer program in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Boston University. Both will also have an opportunity to learn about higher education in general and gain insights into the application process in the U.S.

For the first time this year, the U.S. Embassy asked the Commission to administer the Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellowship. There was a large pool of great applications from upper secondary students for the award. Heiðrún Vala Hilmarsdóttir, from the Reykjavik Women’s Gymnasium and who has an impressive record of social awareness and volunteer work, was chosen to take part in a program at Purdue University that addresses issues including youth engagement, democracy and civil society development, and economic prosperity.

Axel Bjarkar Sigurjónsson, a student of Mechatronics Engineering at Reykjavik University, was selected as Iceland’s representative to attend the Student Leader Summer Institute on Environmental Issues (SUSI). His impressive work on environmental issues, including on energy and other sustainability issues, as well as his work on a documentary centered on environmental issues, secured him this highly coveted spot. Axel is attending a program at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania for his five-week summer program.

The Iceland-U.S. Educational Commission congratulates the students on their awards, and we look forward to hearing all about their experiences when they’ve return from their summer exchanges.