Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!): Is it Legit?
TL;DR
This review covers the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!), where local chapters take you from a business idea to an Investor Panel and launch over a school year. Each chapter sets its own cost and rules, from free plus a $50 fee in Northshore to $1,495 in Manhattan Beach. It fits students in grades 6 to 12 who want to run a real business. At Loudoun's 2026 Investor Panel, investors split $5,000 among six student businesses. If no chapter meets near you, Young Founders Lab offers another way to build a startup with a mentor.
Learning how startups work is useful. Having to price a product, defend your numbers in front of investors, and then actually launch it teaches you something different.
That is the premise behind the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, better known as YEA!. You spend several months turning an idea into a real company or social venture with input from mentors, local business owners, and investors.
YEA at a glance
| YEA Details | |
|---|---|
| Location | In person, through local chapters across the U.S. |
| Cost | Set by each chapter; 2026–27 examples run from free with a $50 registration fee (Northshore) to $1,495 plus a $20 application fee (Manhattan Beach) |
| Dates | Usually weekly from fall through spring; Loudoun's 2026–27 class runs October 2026 to May 2027 |
| Application deadline | Set by each chapter; 2026–27 deadlines included June 30 (Northshore), September 15 (Philadelphia), and September 16 (Manhattan Beach) |
| Eligibility | Grades 6 to 12 nationally, though some chapters narrow this by grade or county |
Why should you join a program like YEA!?
Starting a business without deadlines makes it very easy to spend three months improving the logo and never ask anyone to buy anything. YEA! fixes that with real deadlines and adults whose job is to question your idea.
Scheduled milestones keep you moving: You work toward business-plan development, mentor meetings, an Investor Panel, a launch, and a trade show or showcase. Manhattan Beach runs a 24-week program, Northshore runs for 23 weeks, and Loudoun's program lasts seven months.
Outside scrutiny tests your thinking: National YEA! guidance describes mentors working directly with founders on their business plans. Local chapters also bring in investors, business-plan reviewers, and professionals from law, accounting, marketing, banking, and e-commerce.
You move from an idea to the hard questions: The pressure forces you to work out who will pay, what it costs to deliver, whether your assumptions hold up, and what needs to happen before launch.
If no YEA! chapter meets near you, Young Founders Lab is another way to build a startup with real guidance. You work on your own or in a small team with a founder mentor, then pitch what you've built at Demo Day.
If you're comparing different ways to start building in high school, you can also read YFL's breakdown of what high school entrepreneurship programs actually teach and its list of startup pitch competitions for high school students.
What is the Young Entrepreneurs Academy?
The Young Entrepreneurs Academy is an entrepreneurship program for middle and high school students, founded in 2004 at the University of Rochester with support from the Kauffman Foundation. YEA! says it now serves thousands of young people across the U.S. through locally run chapters.
Who it's for: Students in grades 6 to 12.
What you do: You generate and refine a business idea, research your market, write a business plan, work with mentors, pitch to an Investor Panel, compete for startup funding, and launch a company or social movement.
Where local businesses come in: Chapters bring in entrepreneurs as guest speakers, take you on company visits, and recruit business leaders to mentor you and sit on Investor Panels. YEA! National says mentors typically work one-on-one with young businesses during the business-plan stage.
What you finish with: More than a business plan. YEA!'s national student materials include opening a business bank account, learning about business structures and taxes, registering your business, selling at a trade show, and making a profit.
9 reasons teen founders should join YEA!
You are expected to launch, not just present: YEA! takes you through business registration and launch, and several current chapters explicitly describe participants as legally registering their companies before operating them.
The Investor Panel involves real startup money: Local business leaders evaluate your pitch and allocate actual seed funding among ventures. The amount varies sharply by chapter. Frisco's 2026 class, for example, competed for a $10,000 seed-money pool, while Loudoun's 2026 Investor Panel allocated $5,000.
You get direct business mentorship: YEA! National describes mentors working one-on-one with businesses while founders build their plans, and chapters such as Manhattan Beach pair participants with local professionals who help them work through strategy and development.
The weekly schedule forces you to keep moving: Rather than compressing entrepreneurship into a one-week camp, many chapters meet weekly for roughly five to seven months. That means your idea has to survive repeated research, feedback, revisions, financial planning, and pitch preparation.
Professionals review your business thinking before you pitch: Current chapter models use mentors, mock investors, business-plan reviewers, and local subject experts to challenge assumptions before the formal Investor Panel.
Your network is local enough to remain useful after the program: Guest speakers, investors, field-trip hosts, mentors, CEOs, and chapter sponsors usually come from the surrounding business community. Unlike a speaker you hear once at a national summer program, some of these contacts are people you can realistically reconnect with later.
Strong local ventures can move into national competition: Each chapter's Investor Panel picks a top business to send to the Saunders Scholars National Competition, where you compete for college scholarships and startup prize packages. The 2026 finals took place in Frisco, Texas, and the top three spots went to founders from YEA! Philadelphia, YEA! Princeton Mercer County, and YEA! Manhattan Beach.
Some chapters can count the work toward school credit: This is not a national guarantee, but there are current examples. Grand Junction states that eligible students in Mesa County Valley School District 51 can receive elective credit for participating.
You can start before high school: National YEA! eligibility covers grades 6 to 12, which means you can begin developing a company while you are still in middle school. If you're in middle school now, our list of entrepreneurship programs for middle school students covers more options at your level. Local chapters may narrow that range, so check the rules where you live.
What does YEA! cost?
There is no single national YEA! tuition price. Each chapter sets its own price, and for 2026–27 it ranges from free to $1,495.
Northshore, LA: Free, thanks to Louisiana Economic Development sponsorship, plus a $50 registration fee for accepted students.
Philadelphia, PA: $995, or $850 if you apply early, with need-based scholarships available.
Frisco, TX: $995 for the 2026–27 class.
Princeton Mercer County, NJ: $995. The program is run by the Princeton Regional Chamber Foundation with The College of New Jersey, offers scholarships for eligible students, and can help arrange transportation.
Manhattan Beach, CA: $1,495 for the 24-week program, plus a $20 application fee.
Tuition may cover instruction, materials, events, field trips, supplies, technology, and access to the Investor Panel, but what's included varies. The only dependable answer to "How much does YEA! cost?" is to check your specific chapter.
Who is eligible for YEA!?
Nationally, YEA! is open to students in grades 6 to 12, and you don't need a business idea or prior experience. Each chapter can still set its own rules.
No idea needed: Philadelphia's FAQ says you can enter without an idea, and students who arrive with one sometimes change it after doing market research.
No experience needed: Grand Junction states directly that prior business experience isn't required.
Some chapters narrow the grades: Staten Island only takes New York City high schoolers in grades 9 to 12, and Northshore works with grades 7 to 12.
Some chapters set location rules: Loudoun requires you to live or go to school in Loudoun County.
School background varies: Public, private, Catholic, and homeschooled students have all taken part in past chapters, but your chapter's eligibility page is the final word.
How do you apply to YEA!?
There's no single national application or deadline, so you apply through your local chapter.
Find your chapter: Check YEA!'s chapter directory, then search for your local chamber of commerce's YEA! page. The directory doesn't list every active chapter, including Northshore, Loudoun, and Princeton Mercer County.
Check what your chapter asks for: For its 2026–27 class, Baton Rouge asked for an online application with two essays, a current transcript, a recommendation letter, a recent photo, and a 20-minute Zoom interview. Grand Junction asks for an application, essay and short responses, transcript, recommendation, and interview.
Find out how applications are reviewed: Staten Island uses an online application and transcript, invites some applicants to interview, and reviews applications on a rolling basis.
Work backward from the deadline: For 2026–27, Northshore closed on June 30, Philadelphia on September 15, and Manhattan Beach on September 16, 2026.
Where are YEA! chapters in 2026–27?
YEA! runs only through local chapters, and its official directory lists 19 of them while leaving out several active ones. Most 2026–27 deadlines have already passed, so use the table below to plan ahead.
Start with the official directory, then search locally: The YEA! chapter directory lists 19 chapters, from Albany to New Orleans. Northshore, Loudoun, and Princeton Mercer County all run 2026–27 classes without appearing on it, so also search for your city's chamber of commerce and "YEA."
Check the local rules before you get attached to a chapter: Many chapters only take students who live or go to school nearby. Loudoun requires a Loudoun County address or school, Northshore takes students from St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes, and Staten Island takes New York City high schoolers.
Plan a year ahead if you missed this cycle: Most chapters close applications between June and September for a fall start. Grand Junction runs classes from January through May, so its timeline may differ. In the meantime, our guides to entrepreneurship programs in Texas, New York City, and Colorado list other local options.
How is the Young Entrepreneurs Academy structured?
Every stage builds on the same business, from your first idea to the trade show. The details change locally, but the core sequence usually looks like this:
Idea generation: You identify problems, interests, and possible business or social-impact concepts.
Market research: You test whether there is an actual customer or audience behind the idea rather than assuming demand exists.
Business-plan development: You work through pricing, expenses, marketing, competition, operations, and financial projections, with mentors and professionals giving feedback.
Mentor pairing: You work with an experienced businessperson who helps you pressure-test the plan and prepare it for investors.
Investor Panel: You pitch the venture to local business leaders who allocate real startup funding based on the strength of the concept and presentation.
Registration and launch: You learn about business structures, taxes, banking, and registration, then actually start operating.
Trade show or showcase: You present or sell your product or service publicly and talk with potential customers.
National competition opportunity: A chapter's top venture can advance to the Saunders Scholars National Competition to compete for scholarships and startup prizes.
You are not doing a disconnected market-research assignment in October and an unrelated pitch exercise in April. Each stage feeds the same business.
What is the YEA! Investor Panel?
The Investor Panel is the point where your months of planning become harder to fake. You pitch to local businesspeople who decide how much real seed money your business gets.
How judging works: YEA! National says panelists judge each business on pitch and presentation quality, then pick a top venture to send toward the national competition.
How much money is on the table: The amount is set locally and won't look like Silicon Valley venture capital. Frisco's 2026 class competed for $10,000, and Staten Island's 2026 awards ranged from $200 to $2,000.
Why your numbers matter: If you ask for money to manufacture a product, build a site, buy inventory, or win customers, you need to explain why that amount makes sense. Looking at pitch decks from other high school founders is a good way to see how others lay out their case.
How we reviewed the Young Entrepreneurs Academy
Every fact in this review comes from YEA!'s own national and chapter pages, checked in October 2026.
Official sources only: We checked YEA!'s national site and the pages of 10 local chapters, and we took every cost, deadline, and eligibility rule from those pages.
Current cycle first: Where a chapter hadn't posted 2026–27 details, we said so instead of repeating older numbers. We also left out one chapter whose page hadn't been updated since 2023.
Outcomes over promises: We focused on what you finish with: a registered business, real Investor Panel funding, and a shot at nationals.
Honest limits: We looked at what makes YEA! hard to access, not just what makes it appealing.
Pros and cons of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy
Pros
You launch a real business: YEA! walks you through registering your company, opening a business bank account, and learning about taxes, so you finish with more than a business plan.
Investors put real money on the table: At Loudoun's 2026 Investor Panel, local investors split $5,000 among six student businesses, and Frisco's 2026 class competed for a $10,000 seed-money pool.
You get one-on-one mentorship: YEA! National describes mentors working directly with your business while you build your plan, with local professionals in law, accounting, marketing, and banking weighing in.
The schedule keeps you moving: Most chapters meet weekly for five to seven months, so your idea gets tested through repeated research, feedback, and revisions instead of a single week of camp.
You can start in middle school: National eligibility covers grades 6 to 12, and you don't need a business idea or any prior experience to apply.
Your network stays local and useful: Your mentors, investors, and speakers usually come from your own business community, so they're people you can reach out to again later.
Top ventures can go national: Each chapter sends its top business to the Saunders Scholars National Competition, where you compete for college scholarships and startup prizes.
Some chapters keep the cost low: Northshore's 2026–27 class is free with a $50 registration fee, and chapters like Philadelphia and Princeton Mercer County offer scholarships.
Cons
You need a chapter near you: Classes meet in person every week, and many chapters only take students who live or go to school in their county or city.
Costs vary a lot by chapter: For 2026–27, prices run from free in Northshore to $1,495 plus a $20 application fee in Manhattan Beach, and what tuition covers differs from place to place.
Chapter quality isn't consistent: The national curriculum is the same everywhere, but your instructor, mentors, and investors are local volunteers, so your experience depends on who runs your chapter.
It's a long commitment: Expect about three hours of class a week for five to seven months, and Philadelphia estimates about one more hour a week on your business outside class.
Seed money is modest: Awards are set locally and stay small, with Staten Island's 2026 awards ranging from $200 to $2,000.
Deadlines come early and differ by chapter: Most chapters close applications between June and September for a fall start, so missing one usually means waiting a full year.
The directory is incomplete: YEA!'s official chapter list leaves out active chapters like Northshore, Loudoun, and Princeton Mercer County, so finding yours takes extra searching.
It's usually a one-time program: Most chapters, including Philadelphia and Loudoun, run YEA! as a single-year class, so you can't repeat it with a new idea.
Is the Young Entrepreneurs Academy worth it?
Yes, if a strong chapter meets near you and you can commit to a weekly three-hour class for five to seven months. You come out with a registered business, real feedback from local investors, and possibly seed money, which is more than most programs at this age offer.
It's worth it if you'd rather run something than study it: The Investor Panel uses real money. At Loudoun's 2026 Investor Panel, local investors split $5,000 among six student businesses, with awards from $500 to $1,500.
Your location decides whether it's even an option: Classes meet in person every week, and many chapters only take students from their county or city. An excellent chapter three states away isn't a real choice.
Chapter quality varies: The national curriculum is the same everywhere, but your instructor, mentor, speakers, and investors are local volunteers. Two chapters can give you very different networks and support.
The time adds up: Most chapters meet for about three hours a week, and Philadelphia estimates about an extra hour a week on your business outside class. You also need to be comfortable pitching to adults who may push back on your idea.
Don't judge it by whether the business lasts: YEA! doesn't publish a long-term survival rate for student businesses. Your venture might continue, pivot, or stop, and what you learn from trying to win customers and defend your numbers stays either way.
Frequently asked questions: the Young Entrepreneurs Academy for high school students
1. How long is the Young Entrepreneurs Academy?
Most YEA! chapters meet once a week for about five to seven months. Manhattan Beach runs 24 weeks from October to April, Loudoun runs from October to May, and Staten Island's class is shorter at 16 weeks. Weekly sessions usually last about three hours. Check your chapter's exact dates, since some, like Grand Junction, start in January instead of the fall.
2. Do you need a business idea before applying to YEA!?
No, you can apply without one. Manhattan Beach spends its first few weeks helping you find and research ideas. Philadelphia notes that many students who arrive with an idea change it after doing market research. Being willing to drop a weak idea matters more than showing up with a polished one.
3. Do you really register a company in YEA!?
Yes, registering your business is part of the national model. YEA!'s student materials include registering at the county clerk's office, opening a business bank account, and learning about taxes and business structures. Baton Rouge students register their companies with the Louisiana Secretary of State, and Grand Junction says its students legally register their businesses. The exact steps depend on where you live and your age, so your chapter will walk you through them.
4. Can you do YEA! more than once?
Usually not, since YEA! is built as a one-year program. Philadelphia and Loudoun both describe it as a single-year class. After you graduate, many chapters keep you connected, and Philadelphia says it continues to support and promote its graduates. If you want to keep going, business competitions for high school students are a good next step for the same business.
5. What happens to your business after YEA! ends?
It's your business, so you decide whether to keep running it, change direction, or stop. Some alumni go much further: YEA! says Rachel Zietz started Gladiator Lacrosse in the program, later pitched on ABC's Shark Tank, and passed $1 million in sales. Nationally, YEA! reports that more than 7,700 students have launched over 5,100 businesses and nonprofits. As a minor, you'll need an adult involved in any legal or financial setup that continues after the program.
6. What are good alternatives to YEA! If there's no chapter near you?
Look for programs that don't depend on where you live. Some run online, and some are campus programs you attend for a few weeks in the summer instead of a full school year. Our list of high school entrepreneurship programs compares 10 options by cost, format, and selectivity. Pitch competitions are another route if you already have an idea and want outside feedback.
No YEA! chapter near you, or already missed this year's deadline? Young Founders Lab, founded and run by Harvard entrepreneurs, pairs you with mentors who have worked at Google, Microsoft, and Meta to build a revenue-generating startup, on your own or in a team, ending in a Demo Day pitch.