Summer Courses and Academic Workshops

Please note that all HOLDS must be taken care of before you can register for any MSU courses.

Students must submit the course request form to enroll in KBS undergraduate courses.  Due to limited on-site housing, we prioritize accepting students who plan to take multiple courses within a session, or across sessions.  Please check with your adviser to see which courses will work for you!

Following your submission of the course request form, KBS will work with our partnering MSU departments to process your enrollment. We submit enrollments to departments twice a month.

Note: You will need to provide a PDF of your unofficial transcript(s)- this is so we can ensure course prerequisite requirements are met.

Non-MSU students can take courses at KBS by first filling out MSU’s FREE application to become a MSU Lifelong Education student.  After you have been accepted by MSU and your personal identification number (PID#) is assigned, you will then fill out the KBS course application.

If you have any questions please email: KBSsummer@msu.edu

Onsite housing is available for summer 2024.

Each summer, undergraduates and graduate students from MSU and around the country live at KBS.  Resident Mentors facilitate student life activities at KBS including bonfires, volleyball games, group meals, camping trips and weekend excursions to Lake Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Detroit.

KBS is located on beautiful Gull Lake, which is 1.5 hours from the MSU main campus. Students can choose to live at KBS, or commute for their summer courses. There is recreation around the lake and within a 10-30 minute drive from KBS are the towns of Richland, Kalamazoo, and Battle Creek.

All student housing at KBS is shared in the KBS Apartments or the Orchard Dorm Suites.  Depending on availability, the KBS Conference Center may be able to honor a request for private housing, but additional charges will apply.

Generous donations allow us to provide Housing Scholarships for students to be in residence while taking summer courses here. ALL students taking at least 4 credits of KBS summer courses, will be awarded a 50% housing scholarship for each term they are in residence.  This will reduce the cost of living at KBS to $180/week.

Students eligible for Federal Pell Grant awards will be eligible for  a 100% housing scholarship. To be considered for this scholarship, eligible students must submit a PDF of their most recent MSU Financial Aid Award letter demonstrating they are Pell Grant eligible when they apply for courses at KBSsummer@msu.edu.

Tuition scholarships are also available to students taking field courses at KBS, students in the internship program, and students in the URA program.

*All housing scholarships will be transmitted directly to the KBS Conference Center on behalf of each student and reported to MSU Financial Aid.

For questions please contact the Academic Programs Coordinator at KBSsummer@msu.edu.

Tuition for courses at KBS is the same as tuition for courses on MSU’s main campus. Your tuition will depend on where you live, and whether you currently attend MSU.  You can estimate how much your tuition will be by using MSU’s Summer Tuition and Fees Calculator.

MSU students can apply for tuition scholarships through the MSU Office of Financial Aid and the MSU Student Affairs Advancement Office.

**Non-MSU students can take courses for credit at KBS by first becoming a MSU Lifelong Education student, and the application is FREE!  After you have been accepted by MSU and your personal identification number (PID#) is assigned, you will then fill out the KBS course application. Note that you are responsible for working with your home institution to ensure that your course credits transfer.

Course Code: IBIO/PLB/CSS 891 Section 401 (1-2 credits)
Meeting time: Please visit the Eminent Ecologist course page for specific dates for class meetings.
Instructor: Dr. Nick Haddad (KBS-IBIO)

This course is also known as the “Eminent Ecologists” series.

Distinguished scientists in ecology or evolutionary biology who reside at KBS for a week over the summer will offer formal seminars, informal discussions and one-on-one dialogue with students. To prepare for the seminars, students are expected to read selected publications by each speaker in his or her current research and participate in post-seminar discussions.

Please visit the Eminent Ecologist course page for specific dates of class meetings.

***You do not need to apply for this course, but can register yourself directly through MSU’s online course registration system.