Global Citizen Academy
Join a global network of young changemakers
Global Citizen Academy is for 2020 high school graduates worldwide who don’t want to sit this year out. For the impatient optimists who are ready to get in the arena, this is your opportunity to level up with a diverse, international cohort of young leaders like you.
Build powerful and practical skills for a lifetime of social impact
Dig into the big questions and develop key skills you can’t learn in a traditional classroom alone. You’ll explore topics from effective communication and systems thinking, to mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and ethical decision-making. The experience is designed together with Minerva, a fellow pioneer in educational transformation. Together we're offering a dynamic curriculum that responds to this historic moment and integrates powerful skill sets and mindsets with a proven approach to leadership training.
- Know yourself: Develop skills that unlock self-awareness, well-being and a sense of purpose.
- Understand the world: Analyze local issues and connect them to our global context.
- Drive impact: Collaborate with peers from around the world to align your values and actions with meaningful impact.
Students have the option of earning 4 college credits for Global Citizen Academy. Accreditation is through Minerva Schools at KGI and requires an additional $300 fee.
Shawn Mendes is Global Citizen Year’s Global Youth Chair
Get inspired by today’s most impactful leaders
Make an impact with meaningful volunteer experiences
We’ll help you take what you’re learning and apply it in the real world with meaningful volunteer opportunities. Global Citizen Academy is partnering with impactful organizations across the U.S. and the world. We’ll help you reflect on the issues that call to you (consider climate change, racial justice, global health, voting, and more), and connect you with opportunities to get involved.
Earn College Credit
Concerned with paying college tuition only to take classes virtually from home? Earn college credit through Global Citizen Academy. You’ll learn skills college won’t teach you and be a step ahead before you even step foot on your college campus. You can choose to receive 4 college credits for the Global Systems & Society course. Accreditation is through Minerva Schools at KGI and requires an additional $300 fee.
Connect on the world’s most advanced learning platform
Engage in dynamic courses on Minerva’s cutting-edge Forum learning platform, an immersive virtual environment that allows you to participate fully and establish meaningful relationships with both instructors and peers.
This is not your typical zoom call or boring pre-recorded lecture.
With the Minerva approach, classes are constructed using a range of collaborative activities, including Socratic discussion, live polling, breakout groups, debate, role-playing, and simulations, among others. Instructors guide each session, emphasizing learner participation, group discourse, and project-based applications.
Selective admissions & sliding-scale tuition
A selective admissions process will identify highly motivated students from around the world with a strong commitment to self-reflection, learning, and collaboration.
We are pleased to offer sliding scale tuition for Global Citizen Academy with four tiers ranging from $500 (deposit only) to $7,500 (full tuition). We are committed to making this experience available to the highest potential young leaders we can find, independent of their family’s financial circumstances.
Global Citizen Year x Minerva
Global Citizen Year and Minerva, two pioneers in global education, have teamed up to offer a truly innovative learning experience. Our combined expertise in academic and experiential learning bring leadership training to a new level with the Global Citizen Academy.

