FAMU-FSU engineering college and Challenger Learning Center launch first residential high-school STEM camp

The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and Tallahassee’s Challenger Learning Center held their first residential summer STEM camp for high-school students during July 2026, launching a new university-community education program focused on hands-on learning and engineering-related subjects.

The camp was the first residential summer STEM program conducted through the partnership, according to a July 2026 announcement from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. The announcement identifies the program as a Tallahassee-based initiative involving the college and the Challenger Learning Center.

A new residential STEM option

High-school students participated in the July program. The residential format is a central feature of the new camp, distinguishing it from a conventional day-camp model.

The partners developed the camp to provide hands-on STEM education and expose participants to engineering-related learning. The program joins the College of Engineering’s university role with the Challenger Learning Center’s community education role in Tallahassee.

The available announcement does not provide an exact enrollment figure, individual camp dates within July, tuition information or a breakdown of the instructional staff involved. It also does not identify participating schools or say whether students came from a particular district or from outside the Tallahassee area.

Partnership focus

Challenger Learning Center Executive Director Alan Hanstein characterized the collaboration as a model for STEM education, according to the college’s announcement. That description reflects the partners’ view of the program; the announcement does not provide independent outcome data on student learning, later engineering enrollment or workforce effects.

For students, the camp offered a new local pathway to engage with STEM and engineering learning in a residential setting. For the institutions, it formalized a summer education collaboration between the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Challenger Learning Center.

The launch is a completed program event, not a proposal awaiting approval. No board action, funding decision or policy change was identified in the announcement.

What comes next

The partners did not announce a 2027 camp, a recurrence schedule or a future registration deadline in the available information. They also did not state whether the inaugural program will be expanded, repeated or evaluated using specific student-outcome measures.

As a result, the July 2026 camp establishes the partnership’s first residential summer STEM offering for high-school students, while questions about its size, cost and future schedule remain unanswered in the public announcement.