Each summer, the APPLE UB hosts a Summer Session spanning six weeks from June-July. During this time, students live on campus at Lyon College and take challenging courses from a curriculum that includes both college-credit and college preparatory courses. The courses are taught by project staff, Lyon College faculty, and teachers from the target high schools. College credits earned in the Project's summer courses are transferable to other colleges and universities.

All Summer Session students spend weekends at home, leaving campus on Friday afternoon and returning on Sunday evening. All participants are offered recreational, social, and cultural events, and they all receive a small weekly stipend for participation. Students also take fieldtrips to places such as the Pink Palace Planetarium and Museum, the Civil Rights Museum, Murry's Dinner Playhouse, Arkansas Arts Center, Brooks Museum of Art, the Memphis Zoo, and many exciting theatrical, musical, and educational presentations.